Say I Love You
by boredBRAIXEN
Summary: Four years have passed since Dawn achieved her dream of becoming the youngest Master Class coordinator in history. But after a life changing diagnosis, she stopped traveling and training. Now at the age of 17, she's ready for a new adventure in a new region. What awaits her on her journey? And what does Paul have to do with the fate of Afini? You'll have to read to find out.
1. Glossary

Will be updated regularly

Inspiration for this story comes from the following fanfictions:

A New dream by AiraXue on wattpad

https/my.w.tt/sTbXEIsclZ

Pedestal by Digital Skitty on FFN

https//s/4871317

Stand by you/Heroine series by chipotlepeppers on FFN

https//s/11836044

Translations:

Dawn: Hikari Aoki

Paul: Shinji Aguri

Reggie: Renji Aguri

Joanna: Ayako Aoki

Maylene: Sumo Yoi

Clemont: Citron Park

Bonnie: Eureka Park

Serena: Sakura Min (I couldn't find a Japanese name for her)

May Maple: Haruka Momiji

Drew Rose: Shuu Rozu

Ash: Satoshi Ketchum

Cynthia: Shirona

Jessie: Musashi Tonaka

James Knight: Kijiro Kishi

Professor Rowan: prof. Nanakamado

Professor Oak: prof. Okido

Professor Marula: Afini prof. Marula is a type of tree found in africa

Duna: Zula for headman

Inyoni: Zula for bird


	2. prologue

Hey monsters! I'm back! So, there's a reason I gave up on a few of my other stories. It's completely aggravating but simple to explain... Someone copied my stories and republished them word for word under their own name. I probably wouldnt have minded if they took my plot but changed it enough to make it original or hell I would've even been happy with credit but nooo ... So since they're not finished yet I'm just letting them go. So I got a lot of ideas for this book from a few different fanfiction. Mainly A New Journey by AiraXue and Pedistal (on FFN). I definitely reccomend both of those books to anyone who enjoys pokemon fanfiction.

Now the music is nice to play as soon as you start reading, I feel like it sets the mood for the chapter. I'll probably add mood music to each chapter unless a specific song is needed to play for the chapter. Anyway I hope you enjoy this newer ikarishipping story, it's a little angsty just so you know.

Your first interactive chapter will be posted either tonight or tomorrow. (Im editing it lol)

Now, enough talking and onto the story...

XxX

The sun shone brightly through the thin blue lace curtains covering the window next to my bed. I heard the songs of the Starly and knew it was finally time. My latest stay hat the hospital had been the hardest I can remember in a long time. Normally I would only have to stay for a week, maybe two. But this time I had been kept in the linoleum prison for six months!

I knew after the surgery it was for the best, but that didn't keep it from being nearly unbearable! Thankfully, my mom had pretty much raised hell with the hospital tried to tell me I couldn't see my pokemon. When she saw me crying and I explained that even though the hospital let my pokemon visit, they don't let them in my room and make me visit with them through glass like some sort of inmate, she called in the big guns.

A lot of people forget, my mom was once a very famous woman. Even though she is no longer in the spotlite, she still has ties in high places. After a few quick calls, Shirona, the Sinnoh Champion personally visited the hospital and threatened them if they mistreated me or my pokemon again.

After that, my mom, Sumo Yoi, and Renji Aguri would visit me every few days. Professor

Nanakamado

sent over a bunch of books and I took advantage of my time, learning everything I could about battling, performing, and pokemon in general. They made my stay tolerable. But today is the day I get out and I have been awake for hours waiting for the doctors to come in and discharge me.

I've been thinking a lot lately about what I want to do when I get out. I know I want to travel again but I don't know where. I don't have any money left from my grand festival winnings after paying for all these hospital bills. I can't use Lopbunnys money. Even though she makes a lot of money modeling Serena's pokemon outfits, that money is for her and my other pokemon, not me. I thought about getting a job and saving up to go, but I doubt my mom would let me do anything as long as I'm in her house.

A sudden knock at the door broke me from my train of thought and I looked up to see my mom walking in with the doctor trailing quickly behind her.

"Are you ready to go sweetie?" My mom's smile made me even more excited. She knew that there was no holding me back and that I wanted to go out and see the world again. I nodded in response and watched as she signed a few papers that the doctor was holding before shooing him away and out of my life.

"Let's get you dressed honey and then we can go home." The idea of heading home from the hospital was a welcome encouragement. Slowly I rose up and for the first time in a while, I felt a little excited.

XXXXX

We made it out of the hospital without incident and got into a waiting taxi at the entrance. After a thirty minute drive we finally made it to Reggies ranch. We would be staying with him for a while until we could get things under control financially My mom had sold our house in order to help pay for medical bills, much to my shame. Renji stepped in and had me transferred to Veilstone oncology before offering my mom a small two bedroom cottage that was on his property. There were only two of these little cottages and his assistant Citron and his sister Eureka lived in the other one.

Citron was form Kalos and was supposed to be some kind of genius. Satoshi and Sakura both said they traveled with him once before and that he was a really nice person, a bit awkward, but nice. Tey also said he used to be a gym leader and he even invented most of the major electrical conveniences like discharge ports, subwas, and electrical transformers. He decided he wanted to dedicate his life to making training and understanding pokemon easier for everyone and took a job as an assistant with his little sister who, apparently wanted to be a pokemon breeder.

Citron was around twenty. He looked pretty tall and lanky. He had shoulder length wavy blond hair with big round glasses. He wore a yellow jumper under a white lab coat and brown loafers. Eureka looked to be around fourteen, with short curly blond hair and bright blue eyes, she wore a pair of black leggings with black ballet shoes. On her torso she wore a cute yellow crop top with a lightning bolt on it, she topped it with a black leather jacket and a cute mouse pokemon on her shoulder.

I waved to them as my mom and I made our way towards a slightly bigger house which I knew as Renjis home.

"Hikari! I'm so glad you're finally out of that stuffy hospital." Renji looked a bit different now that I took a few minutes to study him. His long violet hair was still tied in a low pony tail held with a yellow ribbon. His outfit was different too. He wore a pale pink tee shirt with white pants and black shoes. I also suspected he was wearing eyeliner but I didn't mention it. I did compliment his clothes though.

"Me too." Mom agreed quietly. A crashing sound coming from the kitchen caught my attention and I looked up only to see Sumo's head pop out.

"Dinners ready!" I giggled at her flour covered face and made my way towards the dining room where I helped my mom set out plates and silverware. A few minutes later Renji walked in carrying a huge platter with the biggest salmon I've ever seen. Sumo was hot on his tail with her own platter in each hand of rice noodles and gyoza.

Placing the three trays in the center of the table they ran back to the kitchen and came back out with some broth soup, a bottle of wine, and some grilled mushroom and zucchini. The four of us sat down and started digging in. The sound of slurping and fast eating quickly filled the room.

Honestly as great as everything looked I has expected Sumo to have messed up somewhere. She wasn't really known for her cooking ability because in all honesty she was usually a terrible cook. But once she tried the food her mouth exploded with the flavors of soy, miso, ginger, and leeks.

I dont know if it was the fact that I've had nothing but hospital food for half a year or because she actually took my advice to heart. Either way the meal was easily one of the best I ever had. I also knew this meal must have been expensive.

Fish are extremely rare, like cows, pigs, and chickens. I mean sure they're still around, but they're so rare that they're very expensive. Normally people just eat farmed pokemon like magikarp, moomoo, or combuskin. Well I shouldn't say most people because most trainers refuse to eat pokemon meat. Including myself.

As I took another bite of the juicy teriyaki flavored fish I looked to my salmon haired friend and smiled. "Sumo this is amazing!"

My mother immediately nodded her head in agreement with a wide smile. "I didn't know you could cook."

Sumo looked down in embarrassment before looking back up with a shy smile. "Actually, Hikari sent me this recipe." My mom looked at me in shock before turning back to the tiny gym leader. "She sent me a whole bunch of recipes with really detailed instructions so I can't mess them up!"

"It's nice to have some real food again." I quickly noted. "Thanks for choosing this meal. It was definitely worth waiting for."

"I'm so happy to hear that!" Sumo said with a clap of her hands. "It's not too heavy or anything is it? I tried to pick one of the lighter meals for you."

"How sweet of you to be so thoughtful." My mom said with misty eyes.

"So Hikari," Renji said taking another gyoza from the tray, "what are your plans now that you're free? Are you planning any new journeys?" I was nervous about this conversation because I knew my mom wouldnt want me working, but maybe with Renji and Sumo here I could figure out a way to travel that would make every one happy.

"Well, as fun as that sounds, I'll have to earn some money first."

"Nonsense sweetie, you have plenty of money in Lopbunnys account to travel-" I cut my mom off before she could go any further. I've tried explaining this before but she refuses to listen.

"NO! That money is to be used for my pokemon only." I yelled louder than I meant to.

"But-"

"No. When I let her go with Sakura I made a deal with her. If she wants to model, and it makes her happy, that's fine with me. If she wants to send her teammates gifts and money, that's fine too. But I am her trainer and I won't allow myself to be cared for financially by my pokemon."

My mom sat silently staring at me. I could see her wanting to protest but before she could Sumo and Renji rushed to have my back.

"I think that's admirable! As a trainer it's our job to take care of our pokemon, not the other way around. I wish more of my challengers understood that"

"I agree with Sumo. But there's not much work around here and even less in Twinleaf town. How do you plan on saving money?"

"That's true. I hadn't thought about that."

"You could always apply for sponsorship." Sumo slid a paper from her pocket and handed it to me. It was a list of companies who sponsor pokemon trainers in exchange for free advertising.

"I can say from experience that is not a good idea." My mom finally spoke up. I agreed with her, I didn't want to have a company controlling my journey.

"What about Geo catching?" Renji thought aloud.

"What's that?" I had heard the term before but never bothered leaning what it meant.

"Sometimes professors and breeders hire people to travel to different places to capture specific pokemon for them." Reggie explained." Usually they will pay for travel costs and basic necessities. Depending on how far and how long the job is expected to take, some people will give the geo catchers a monthly allowance. When you complete your journey you are usually paid a percentage of the pokemons worth."

"That actually sounds like something I could do!" I began growing excited. I could call Professor

Nanakamado

or Okido and ask them if they needed any new geo catchers and go on my trip after all. But what if they don't need help? What then?

"Well it just so happens, I'm looking to hire a geo catcher and I'd be more than honored if you accepted the job." Renji said as if reading my mind. I looked up in shock and my mom looked nervous.

"Really? What pokemon do you need?" She asked him suspiciously.

"Well actually," he chuckled while rubbing his neck nervously, "I just wanted a few pokemon from a less explored region."

"That sounds dangerous." My mom snapped at him.

"Oh no Ayako, it's perfectly safe." He was waving his hands in a surrendering motion before he explained a little more. "I only meant Sinnohan professors haven't had a chance to explore. The region itself is much like Alola."

"Where is it?" I guessed I was no longer part of the discussion as she spent ten minutes drilling him for information. Finally he stood up and started to collect his plate.

"Let's clean up and grab some coffee. We can go sit on the porch and I'll explain everything."

After a quick clean up and an hour long discussion it was decided. I would be heading to the Afini Island region for the duration of the island challenges and bazaars. I agreed to capture pokemon native to the region to send him and he would pay me 5,000 pokeyen for each one I captured. He would also be paying for all of my travels, and I got a 5,000 pokeyen per month allowance for food and hotel stays.

It was a fair trade. He asked me to compete in one of the tournaments as well so I decided to take only Piplup with me. This was going to be a fresh start for us. A new journey in a new land where no one knew who we were. And I couldn't wait.


	3. Chapter 1

Hey monsters!

So like i mentioned before, this story is pouring out of me. It's fairly personal to me because ... Well I'll explain why later.

This chapter is going to introduce to the guy we just want to understand.

Paul. I am going to try to be as original as I can with him without making him too ooc.

Also... Anyone who wants to do a fanart for this story is more than welcome too. Im actually in the process of creating an Amino for fanfiction fanart.

Im still looking for a beta reader as well.

This chapter is dedicated to paul_shinji who is one of my most loyal readers. Also to AiraXue for your inspiration for the bazaar and comment support. It means a lot that I've got readers like you guys and yall make me want to update more!

Well enough chit chat... Onto the story!

XxX

Standing at the edge of the pier, I clutched the ticket in my hand. I was reluctant to get on the ramp in front of me. Of course I had planned on traveling to Afini on my own terms, when Renji called he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. But knowing him, there is some sort of ulterior motive, and I wasn't sure if I really wanted to go through with our deal.

The blaring of the horn signaled the ships upcoming departure and reluctantly, I made my way up the slightly inclined board of willow and handed my now crumpled ticket to the boarding director. He regarded me with a curt nod and handed me a keycard. Grumbling a quick thanks, I pushed my way up and past the other passengers.

I looked at my keycard and saw I was in cabin 112A so I hurriedly made my way to my room. The sooner I was out of this crowd the better.

That's the reason I wanted to go to Afini in the first place. There aren't many travelers there. The only people who go there are either trainers or researchers which was fine with me.

I hated crowds. I hated being around people. Too many people around me makes me remember things I'd rather forget. Finally finding my room, I rushed in, locking my door behind me. I looked around my room and noticed the blue sign that signaled smoking was allowed and I silently thanked Renji for finally leaving me alone about my habit.

I know he means well but he doesn't understand. He doesn't know what I went through while he was galavanting through Sinnoh. He wasn't there when…

Shaking the thoughts from my head I quickly pulled out my red and white box of cigarettes. I flicked my lighter and inhaled deeply, watching in silent praise at the now blazing red tip of the thing. Blowing out the first puff didn't do much to calm my nerves but it was keeping the creeping anxiety attack at bay.

A few years ago I would've never imagined myself smoking, but after a particularly difficult track, an old man had offered me one and I was hooked. I had picked up other bad habits like drinking and fighting. Renji thinks I'm depressed. I'm not depressed, I'm anxious. He's an idiot not to know the difference.

I looked around the room some more now that I finished my cigarette. I noted the small twin sized bed in the corner near a circular window. There was a cherrywood desk and chest of drawers. I noticed a mini fridge under the desk and a packet of papers on the desk. They were brochures, vouchers, and a map. I assumed it was the 'perk package' Reggie mentioned every trainer gets their first time in the country.

The trip would take 4 nights and 3 days. Since I only brought Torterra with me, I planned on staying in my room the entire time. Unfortunately for me, fate would have other plans. A final blare of the horn mixed with a sudden jerking motion, let him know the ship had finally left the dock. Flopping down on my bed, I used my arm to cover my eyes and promptly fell fast asleep.

XxX

I awoke to a loud noise outside my cabin. I could hear the cheering and clapping mixed with the faint sound of pokemon cries. I wondered what was happening and eventually, curiosity got the best of me.

Cautiously I made my way out of my room. I pulled my hood over my head and clutched Torterras pokeball inside my pocket. Holding his ball had always helped me when I felt overwhelmed. He was like my personal security blanket.

Gripping the ball tighter, I wove my way through the two or so dozen people until I found myself looking at something that made my heart drop. Why was she here? Why?!

I didn't have anything against her personally, it's just; she reminds me so much of her. And thoughts of her always make me have an episode. I'd be damned if I was gonna make a fool in front of myself in front of this crowd, so with one last glance at her cutesy Piplup and her prussian hair, I made my way back to the sanctuary of my room.

This was gonna be a long trip.

**XxX**

"Piplup, use whirlpool and follow it up with ice beam and drill peck!"

I watched with pride as the crowd gathered to watch my beloved starter. It seemed the time away from training hadn't affected his performance skills in the slowest.

Throwing his flippers up, a blue ball of water formed and expanded until it was a six foot high swirling funnel of liquid danger. With a small pip he opened his beak and shot out a glowing ball of ice, encasing the whirlpool completely so that it now looked like a sparking sculpture.

I have no idea how it stayed in the air, pokemon logic I guess, but as it was floating Piplup jumped up and began his finale. His beak glowed white and grew to half his body length. It began to spin like a drill and in one swift movement, the icy vortex exploded into a shower of glitter.

With a flip and a smug grin, Piplup landed striking a pose. He puffed his chest out in pride at the awe he had inspired before waddling over to me. I was praising his efforts when a woman walked up to me. She was absolutely beautiful. Her dark skin and bright colored clothes were the first thing to grab my attention.

I looked her dress up and down. It looked like a waterfall of color, pinks mixed with teal, yellow, and orange that faded into a lovely aquamarine at the bottom. The dress had a hauler top which was a gold chain instead of cloth. She wore golden hoop earrings and her goddess dredlock hair hung loosely on her side, the dyed blond tips fading into her hip.

She was stunning. I found Piplup.momentarily at a loss for words when piplup jumped up and puffed his chest out. "Pip piplup!"

"That was magnificent! Where ever did you learn such a thing?" Her brown eyes shone with delight at our practice.

"Thank you. We're actually retired coordinators from Sinnoh. My name is Hikari Aoki and this is Piplup."

"Pip!"

Her eyes grew wide and a bright smile crossed her face. "You wouldn't happen to be the famous master class youngster?"

"Well… yeah." I answered reluctantly thinking about how much I hated that name. "I'm not too fond of that nickname though."

"Surely not." She smiled at me again as if in understanding, holding out her hand, she introduced herself formally. "Listen, my name is Yuko Yagime. I'm president of the Afini Island Bazaar and I think you'd be great at it."

"What's a bazaar?" I had never heard that term before but it sounded exciting.

"It's really interesting. It's a cross between contests and performances."

"How does it work?" She laughed lightly before pulling out a pamphlet and going over it with me.

"Well there are 3 rounds. In the first round, it's like a talent show." She pointed to the first fold with an image of a Machamp playing drums and it's trainer on guitar. "You and your pokemon get 3-5 minutes to perform together on stage and the audience chooses the winners."

"So like dancing?" I wondered if I could teach Piplup to dance. That would be fun for both of us.

"Some sing, some dance. Others do magic, tell stories, I even saw a dramatic improv once." She said with a shrug

"Interesting…"

"It gets better." She showed me the second page and my eyes grew wide. " The second round is called the THEME round. No one knows what the THEME is until the moment it's announced. These rounds vary, but they're usually a quiz, obstacle course, task, or scavenger hunt. The top four will make it to round three where they'll have a 1 vs 1 battle. The top two will have a 3 vs 3 battle but the battles are different."

"What do you mean?"

"In contests the bar goes from 100% to 0% correct?"

"Yea."

"Well in Afini, like Alola and their showdowns* the score bar goes from 0% to 100%. A knock out doesn't guarantee you victory either. It will of course help your points but if you KO your opponents pokemon and their score bar is higher, they win not you."

"That sounds difficult." I sighed and biwed my head. It had been years since I performed on stage. But looking at the excitement on Piplup's face, I decided I could at least try. "But I think I like how challenging that could be. How do I sign up?"

"Here take this," Yukohanded me a dark purple pokedext and a matching case that looked like it was for holding ribbons. "Take these to the pokemon center and tell nurse Joi I sent you. She'll get you everything you need. Be sure to have her check the special files in your pokedext."

"Thank you so much Yuko-san!"

"Hn." She said with a nod and another toothy grin. " I assume you retired for a reason. I can only hope my league helps you find whatever you're looking for."

"I hope so too. I came only to explore and do some Geocaching, but this will give me something to look forward to while I'm here."

"I'm glad to hear that. Well I must be going now. I have some calls to make. Enjoy your stay in Afini."

"Thank you again!"

I looked down and saw that under the pokedext there was an envelope with a VIP voucher at the island bazaar shop! It was worth 20,000 pokeyen and it was more than enough for me to enjoy my journey. I am always surprised at the kindness in strangers. But I can't complain when it brings me an opportunity like this.

I decided to head to the library to read up more on the league so I had an idea of what to expect. I didn't think that studying would ever be a bad idea but Mew was I wrong.

XxX

Ok monsters it's time for you to choose. What will happen when hikari goes to the library?

She runs into Shinji and they argue

She runs into Kengo and Jun (Kenny and Barry)

She is approached by a creeper

You have 24 hours to vote in the comments! The next chapter will be posted tomorrow at 11pm CST


	4. Chapter 2

This chapter is dedicated to pansy1 who helped encourage me to write this story. I wasn't going to until a few people said it would be an interesting read. I hope it lives up to your expectations! So I should note that I was never a big fan of Kenny. He was just too show offy for me. Barry was just annoying. Honestly in real life someone probably would've punched him in the mouth. Aaaanyway lol, here's the next chapter based on your vote! Be sure to read the options at the end of the chapter and vote for what happens next! Now, onto the story

XxX

I was surprised at how big the ship actually was. It took me nearly ten minutes to walk from the training platform to my room, and another ten minutes to get to the library. I left Piplup in the room because he wanted to rest and took the time alone to think about things.

Yuko had said I would be great at bazaars, Piplup seemed excited about the idea, it would give us something to do aside from aimlessly searching for pokemon, but…

I guess I was nervous. Ironic how the youngest Master Class coordinator could suddenly come down with stage fright. Maybe it's because I had never seen a bazaar. Maybe if I study up on them and watch a few tapes from past years I wouldn't feel so apprehensive about doing this.

If I were being honest, I kind of wanted to try gym battles. But Afini didn't have typical gyms. There, you have to challenge anywhere from one to four 'captains'. If you beat them all you can battle the Island Tutelary pokemon. Once you beat that pokemon you receive an offering. Once you've captured all 8 offerings you qualify for the tournament. The top 8 are each presented with a unique stone that is supposed to be greater than even Mega evolution.

The winner gets a secret prize along with 500,000 pokeyen. It's not hard to see why there are less trainers willing to journey to this region for the league. It sounded difficult as hell. There was no way I could do that.

I realized I finally found the book I was looking for. A History of Afini Bazaars. I grabbed it along with one on local pokemon and one on battle tactics and went to find somewhere to sit.

I noticed an area with fluffy chairs and made my way over to one. After getting comfortable I grabbed my first book and started reading.

XxX

Almost four hours had passed and I had finished my first book. I stood up to stretch my aching muscles when a flash of gold and brown caught my eye. Now, when I had agreed to this trip I had taken care to make sure no one I knew would be traveling here. Unfortunately I realized I mist have overlooked some things because two extremely familiar faces were making their way towards me.

"No way! Dee Dee is that you?" Kengo Chan. How I thought I had finally rid myself of him. He was my childhood best friend, but we began growing apart once we started on our journeys back when we were ten. He had developed a crush on me that had turned into an obsession on his part.

Eventually I had to distance myself from him when he lied to the press and said we were together. I hadn't seen him in five years. He hadn't changed much. His auburn hair was still combed back and messy. His brown eyes glinted with a creepy look that was rivaled only by his overly toothy grin.

He wore a dark green vest over a brown long sleeve shirt tucked into brown pants with matching green shoes. Next to him was one of Satoshi's old rivals, Jun Suzuki. His blond hair was shorter than I remember. He had it styled with fohawk.

His merigold eyes stood out with the carrot colored polo shirt he wore. His pants were white and his boots had a slight heel to them. He still wore his signature orange and white ascot but now he has a matching man purse to go with it. If I remember correctly, he had a weird boy crush on Renjis little brother Shinji when we were like eleven, so seeing his attire didn't surprise me much.

I was, however, surprised to see them. And not a good kind of surprised either. I gritted my teeth and glared at the two. I was not ready to forgive Kengo and I never really liked Jun in the first place. He was obnoxious, spoiled, and stupid. Kengo was manipulative, a liar, and a thief who she couldn't trust.

I decided to just leave without talking to them but of course Kengo wasn't having it. "Running away again Dee Dee?"

I growled in irritation. My eyes flashed dangerously and, as if sensing the oncoming argument, Jun made his way over to the manga section leaving me alone with this pretentious asshole. "My name is Hikari."

"Whatever Dee Dee. So you're headed to Afini too huh? We should travel together!" Crack. That's what he must have been smoking if he was seriously suggesting that.

"No." I answered without missing a beat. " I'm here for work." I had hoped he would leave it at that but he didn't because… why would he?

"Oh so you're not doing the contests?" The sarcasm in his voice mixed with his smug grin made me want to vomit. " Too bad, but I guess not everyone's cut out to be a great coordinator like myself."

Arceus he sounded so self righteous, like he thought he was the best coordinator in the world. He must have forgotten that while by age thirteen I had won seven grand festivals, at seventeen he has only one one and that was only because of disqualification. I was going to leave without arguing, I really was, but I couldn't. He just pissed me off too much.

"First of all, there are no contests in Afini you moron. Second, I am still a trainer. Unlike you I have won a total of 8 grand festivals, and that's with a four year retirement, so how about you get the hell out of my way before I have my pokemon move you for me."

The look of annoyance that took over his egotistical face was beyond satisfying. I wanted to make him mad but seeing him irritated was just as fun. I was gonna keep going but what he said next just astounded me.

"Geez no need to be so crabby. You on your period or something?"

"What, the actual fuck, is your problem?" I said with feigned calmness.

"Meh." He said with a shrug of his shoulders. "You're moody, what else am I gonna think. Anyway the ship lands in a few days, make sure to meet me by the exit and we can head to the pokemon center together."

"You're insane if you think I'm traveling with you. Now move." Shoving past him with my three books in hand, I made my way towards the exit and ran to my room as fast as my legs would carry me.

Of all people I had to run into, it had to be him. Fuck my life.

XxX

I looked out onto the open sea as the sun's first rays began to peak above the horizon. Wild gorebyss swam in random with the front of the ship, jumping for air every few minutes. Their pinks and violet colored skin clashing with the deep blue of the ocean.

That blue. It is so similar to the color of her eyes. Blue. The color I could get lost in for hours without even trying. It was the color of magnetic pull, at least to me, that's how it seemed. I couldn't escape it. It was everywhere. Just like her.

Running my hands through my bangs with a sigh, I got up from my spot and began making my way towards the dining hall. I wanted to grab my breakfast quickly and stay in my room until dinner. I figured I could spend the day reading up on the information Renji sent me about the job. I would probably have time to look into the local league, and maybe watch a movie.

Tomorrow is my last day on this ship so if I just keep my head low, maybe I can get off without ever running into her. The smell of maple and cinnamon assaulted my nose and I rushed into the still empty cafeteria where a fresh buffet had just been put out.

Grabbing a tray and three plates I started on the isle with lite starters. I grabbed some bananas, apples, oranges, peaches, a pineapple, and mango along with yogurt, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, boisonberries, and granola along with a few packages of honey, butter, and cream cheese. Next I went to the heavy food isle.

It took me a few minutes to choose but I finally decided on omurice with mushroom, poached fish, along with half a dozen of each omurice and gyoza. Finally I made it to the bread aisle. I quickly grabbed some French toast, bagel, two muffins, a cinnamon roll, and fried shredded potatoes with peppers and onions.

Lastly I grabbed a few bottles of juice, milk, and tea along with two giant handfuls of breakfast, granola, and snack bars. I also grabbed a few bags of trail mix and dried berries. I was glad i had brought my bag with me to carry most of the things I grabbed. Only the fish, french toast, yogurt, and berries were actually on my plate. Not that it mattered seeing as how the food was free.

That's why I took so much. I'll be doing this again tomorrow and using the food for the first week of my journey. One thing I've learned in my years as a trainer is to always take advantage of free stuff. Pokemon are expensive. Sure we get free pokemon care but everything else costs money.

Pokeball, potions, evolution stones, TMs, special items, food, it all cost money. And if you happen to catch more than your official team it costs even more. Not only do you have the everyday items, but you also have to pay someone to take care of them for you since its illegal to have more than twelve on any one property without a breeders, professors, nursery, daycare, or sanctuary license.

Luckily for me my brother is a breeder so I don't have to pay hundreds of thousands of pokeyen a year to care for my pokemon. I have thirty five pokemon currently with Renji and Torterra my starter is with me making my pokemon count 36.

I noticed a bar filled with packaged water, sports drinks, chilled coffees, and candy so I quickly and discreetly stuffed dozens of each candy bars and drinks in my bag, making sure to grab plenty of coffee and laterade, before finally heading out of the slowly filling dining area.

I stopped at my room and dropped off the unnecessary amount of food I had gathered before running to the library. I needed to grab a few books to study if I was going to lock myself away for two days.

I spent a good fifteen minutes searching and had found a half a dozen books and four recordings of past championships to take with me. Thinking I was home free I ran towards the exit only to slam into something, well actually, more like someone.

The heavy stack of books fell from my hands and landed promptly on the person's head and I could immediately feel an anxiety attack coming on and stupid me left Torterras ball in my room. Panic surged through me as I reached down to pick up my fallen books.

Silently and without looking at my victim I bent down to help them up. But my heart stopped when the person I had unintentionally knocked over looked up.

"No it's my fault I wasn't looki- Shinji?"

Edit* for some reason this part didn't post! So heres your choices for what happens next!

.Dawn and Paul have an awkward conversation and avoid each other the next day

.Skip to next day and have Kenny and Barry challenge Dawn and Paul to a battle

.Have Dawn call Reggie to complain only to realize he set the whole thing up

You have until 8pm CST August 23 to vote!


	5. Chapter 3

Hey monsters! As promised, here's chapter 3! Sorry for the late update and I hope y'all enjoy. This chapter actually included a battle but that made this chapter like 5k words so I split it in two and am editing the second half still. So now that this chapter is published I might publish again Monday but don't expect anything until Friday and from then on expect multple updates every Friday instead of every other day. I hope this is ok with everyone it's just easier for me with work plus my lupus is currently flaring up so I feel like a walking corpse atm.

Oh dedications lol, this chapter is dedicated to the wonderfully talented kawaiiice who has written my favorite ikarishipping AU series on wattpad. She also has an amazing original fiction called Fall that's REALLY good so check it out! I like her angst and I'm always inspired when I reread her books.

Anyway enough talk,

Onto the story!

XxX

'Shit! Why? I swear the legendaries hate me because of all the people on this Mew forsaken ship I couldve slammed into, it had to be her!' My thoughts were running wild as I stared into those lapis eyes. Thankfully my emotionless facade didn't break but still, I felt like I would pass out from anxiety.

"Ah, gomennasai Shinji, I uh, didn't see you there." Instead of apologizing I just stood there like an idiot not saying anything. I noted how different she looked now that I was seeing her up close. Her long blue hair was even longer than I remember, now hanging to her waist.

Her outfit had changed too. Thankfully she got rid of those stupid short skirts. Now she was wearing a pair of light gray yoga style pants with the drawstring hanging loose. Those hideously pink go go boots were replaced with a pair of dark grey and white spotted Tims* style shoes. She had a long sleeved dark violet shirt with a deep vee neck that hugged each of her overly developed curves with just enough cleavage to keep you guessing. All in all, time had been good to her, she looked amazing.

After a few moments of awkward silence she cleared her throat and looked at me with her signature smile. At least that hadn't changed. "Still silent as ever I see? You haven't changed much. How have you been."

"Fine. You?" I wasn't sure why I bothered replying but I did and her response bothered me for some unknown reason.

"Eh… I could be better but at least im not dead yet!" Her false enthusiasm was even more annoying than her normal bubbly personality suprisingly. I found myself wondering what she meant with that little morbid joke of hers and found I was at a complete loss for once in my life. Instead of questioning her like I wanted I just shrugged, my usual scowl adorning my face.

"Um… okay?"

"Never mind." She looked down and shook her own head in response. Changing the subject, much to my dismay. "So you're headed to Afini too? I bet you're going for the island Tournament huh?"

"Hn" Of course she would ask such a stupid question when the answer was obvious. Why else would I be on a ship to Afini if I wasn't going there? Mew she was an iIan imbecile.

" I was going to try it too since they don't have gyms here but I don't think I'd be any good."

I snorted at the thought. Her prissy pokemon were only good for showing off and dancing. They could never last in a serious league like the Afini Island Trials. Why was she thinking about it anyway? As a matter of fact, Afini didn't even have contests, so why in Arceus name was she here, now, bothering me?! "I thought you were a coordinator?"

"Hm." A sad look took over her face before her usual smile reappeared. " I was. I retired four years ago because of… reasons."

"What a waste of time." Just like Renji. Gave up before becoming the best. How utterly pathetic!

"Excuse me Mr 'I'm better than everyone', but if you must know I became the world's youngest master class coordinator at age 14 before I retired thank you very much!" Her hands were on her hips and she was yelling eagerly at me. Her face contorted into what almost looked like a bright red puffer fish and I had to suppress a laugh. But I had to admit, what she said intrigued me.

"Really?"

"Yes really!" She stomped her foot as if trying to make a point before throwing her hands up and letting out an exasperated sigh. " Is it so hard to believe that I'm actually good at something?"

"Not really." I didn't feel like fighting with this girl and honestly I knew she was talented at… showing off.

"Oh." I didn't notice until then that we had started walking sometime during our conversation. Her silence, though welcome, was unsettling. True it had been years since I had seen her but I just couldn't help but picture her as that loud mouthed ten year old girl I met way back when I was twelve. I decided I didn't much care for this quiet hikari and, against my better judgement, started conversation back up.

"So why'd you stop then?"

"Well, I got sick." She had a sad smile on her face But I could tell she wasn't really upset, more like relieved. " But it's ok because master class is the highest you can go, so it's not like I failed in my original goal."

My respect for her grew a twinge in that moment. She had achieved her original goal, and at such a young age at that. I was surprised and found myself looking at her a little differently. She must be been better than I originally gave her credit for and to my shock I heard myself speaking in a somewhat gentle tone. Well… gentle for me anyway. "If you're sick, why are you going to Afini?"

The look of confusion in her eyes was brief before being masked by a shell of determination. "The doctor finally cleared me to travel again! I took a Geocaching job out here and was invited to participate in the island bazaars."

"Hm." I had heard of those things through various commercials for the region. Apparently it was a literal circus where trainers and their pokemon perform instead of the circus having its own show. Each city had a different theme and they were widely popular for how entertaining and exciting they could be. They didn't sound as horrible as contests, and I could definitely picture her participating in one.

"Well I'm glad I ran into you. I haven't seen anyone from the old days in a long time." I did wonder why she was alone seeing as she looked like she might pass out from exertion any minute.

"What about Pathetic and the Breeder?"

Choosing to ignore my 'nicknames' for her friends, she began explaining what my old rival had been up to. "Satoshi is a gym leader substitute in Kalos. He lives with his girlfriend, a famous designer Sakura."

My face surely reflected the shock that I was feeling inside. I couldn't help it when I asked "How did that loser get a girlfriend?"

"Hehe," Her giggle was, not as ear splitting as most girls, which I was thankful for. Although I wasn't sure what exactly she found so amusing. Raising a brow at her childishness she just giggled some more before shaking her head and continuing. " Satoshi really isn't that bad Shinji. Plus he and Sakura have known each other since they were like 6. Anyway, Takeshi recently opened a private pokevet in Kanto. He is the head doctor for pokemon and his sister Koi helps him with the pokemon they treat."

"Hn." It really didn't surprise me that Satoshi became a gym leader. Substitute or not, it was a title demanding respect. Takeshi had mentioned something about helping pokemon at some point in the past. I was even less amazed to hear he had become a doctor. Although I would admit, opening his own clinic was a pretty amazing feat. My thoughts were interrupted with another pointless question but I answered, my mouth betraying my mind that was screaming for me to get away before this girl brought me any trouble.

"What about you? I heard you've won a bunch of leagues already! When are you gonna take the Sinnoh Champion title huh?"

She had this strange way of asking questions that caught me off guard. "What makes you think that's my goal?"

"You told me that was your dream, well, that and beating battle pyramid king Yuki. But you already did that. Not to mention you're like, the best trainer in Sinnoh. No one can beat your strategies in battle and your pokemon strength is a force to be reckoned with. I'm actually surprised you haven't claimed the title yet."

"I still need to challenge a few more regions first." I said with finality. Thankfully she got the message that I wasn't much up for story swapping and instead continued on with her little 'conversation'.

"Oh, I think I understand. That's cool, I bet you're gonna catch something reall-" Just when I thought my day couldn't get any more annoying, the epitome of irritation bumped into Hikari forcefully enough to knock her into my chest. I growled in anger at the idiot that was now standing in front of us.

"Ah, Pikari there you are! I've been looking for you. Have you called your mom to tell her your change of plans?"

"What are you talking about?" I couldn't help the smug smirk that appeared on my mouth as Kengo's face twisted in a mixture of embarrassment, anger, and confusion. The site was something to behold that was for sure. Hikari on the other hand looked furious. If looks could kill, Kengo would've been buried ten times over by now.

"I told you to travel with me remember? Geez Pikari it's a good thing you're cute because you sure are dumb." His blatant disrespect for her as a person pissed me off for reasons far beyond my understanding. Just as I was about to say something about his absolute lack of space to criticize anyone, Hikari beat me to the punch.

"I already told you Kengo, I'm NOT traveling with you. Now leave me alone.. She turned to face me then after a reproachful look she made her way to stand behind me. Unfortunately, Kengo couldn't take a hint and obviously thought I was indifferent to the whole situation.

"Awww come on don't be like that…" A loud yelp could be heard as he grabved her wrist and jerked her back towards him. Yanking her arm like some kind of rag doll, he tried to pull her into his hold but before I had time to think about what I was doing, I snapped.

I grabbed Kengo by his shirt collar and lifted him a foot off the ground with one arm, making him let go of his hold on Hikari in fright. With my free hand I pulled her behind me and glared directly into his eyes in the most threatening way I could muster.

"She said leave."

"Who are you?" How he managed to sound arrogant while pissing his pants I didn't know. Nor did I care. What I did care about was that I was in the middle of a conversation, welcome or not, and this asshole interrupted us and then had the nerve to disrespect Hikari like she was some toy of his. If there was one thing I couldn't deal with, it was guys treating women like property.

I wanted to punch this guy right in his smug fave. And I probably would have, had his friend not walked up. A shrill voice that had haunted me for years echoed through my brain. Of course the president of my worldwide fanclub would be here to annoy me even further, if that was possible.

"Oh my Mew that's Shinji-kun!"

"Who?" I groaned in frustration. How did this moron not even know who I was. I could see why Hikari couldn't stand Kengo and it was becoming increasingly harder not to punch him in the mouth.

Jun, the irritating fanboy, seemed as offended as I was and I wasn't sure how I felt about him coming to my defense. "He's only like, the best trainer ever!"

"We're leaving" I couldn't take this. I dropped the brown haired idiot on the floor earning a cry of pain from the little pansy. I reached behind me and grabbed Hikari's wrist and began walking forward, pulling her behind me and away from the twin terrors of Sinnoh.

"But-" Jun tried to protest but was cut off as I shoved past him with more force than was necessary. Kengo just got mad and began throwing a tantrum.

"Hey! I'm not done talking!"

I ignored him and continued walking but he jumped in front of me nearly causing me to strangle him out of pure fury.

"Move. Now." My words were low and threatening. Kengo gulped before standing his ground and blurting out, "I challenge you to a pokemon battle! If I win Pikari has to travel with me!"

Why he thought challenging me should have any impact on Hikaris travels was beyond me but when I looked at the girl in question and saw genuine fear in her eyes, I once again decided I would take care of this dimwit for her. Only because I felt sorry for her, being sick and all.

"Fine." I said with a reluctant sigh.

Somehow, Kengo's arrogant attitude had reappeared and he decided he would treat this challenge like it was nothing. He had no idea how much I was going to enjoy embarrassing him in front of a crowd. " We'll meet tomorrow morning at 11 so that way when I win, we can start our journey."

"Whatever." I said shoving past him and staging Hikari with me. We walked in silence for about ten minutes before she finally spoke.

"Hey, Shinji?" I suddenly realized I was still holding her wrist and quickly let go before looking to her waiting to hear whatever nonsense it was she was going to say.

"I… I'm sorry Shinji."

I wasn't mad. Not at her anyway. It was obvious she was uncomfortable around this guy who couldn't take no for an answer. I decided I wanted some answers since I was dragged into this nonsense. "Care to explain what that was about?"

"That was Kengo. He used to be my friend when we were kids, but as you can see, he's grown up to be a dick."

"Why does he want to travel with you?"

"He has some weird obsession with me. He's asked me out like thirty times and doesn't understand the concept of the word 'no'. " My suspicions were correct about the guy. He was a pervert with a dominance complex. Great.

"Is there a reason he challenged me then?" I really wanted to know why this jackass decided to bring me into his mess because honestly, all three of these people were nothing but a headache to me. At least Hikari was somewhat pleasant to be around and could pick up on social eyes easily enough.

"I actually don't know why he challenged you. It's not like we're traveling together. Maybe he was just jealous because he saw us talking. He always gets mad when I talk to anyone other than my mom." The look of pure helplessness on her face was too much for me and I turned away. I guided her around the large spiral post that signaled the beginning of the stairs that lead to the cabins.

"Well after I beat him I expect all three of you to leave me alone." I announced as we reached the third floor. We were walking towards the end of the hallway and my room was coming up shortly, I was almost free of this unwanted drama for the day.

"I can't promise anything on their behalf, but I promise not to bug you anymore if you can get him to leave me alone." I stopped in front of my door and turned to Hikari with a raised brow. Her usual smile was back in its rightful place and she sounded determined to keep up her end of the bargain.

"Fine." I Finally answered hoping she would get the message. Surprisingly though she pulled out a keycard and turned to the door right next to mine.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks for walking me to my room." With that she opened the door and gave me a quick wave before disappearing into her room and closing the door.

As fast as I could, I entered my own room and slammed the door. She was my neighbor? Of course, because why wouldn't she be? It's like fate was throwing everything it could in my way before my journey had even begun. Maybe this was a sign to turn back. All I could keep thinking though was the obvious. What the fuck did I just get myself into?!


	6. Chapter 4

Hey monsters! As promised, here's the other half of what was originally supposed to be chapter 3 lol. I hope you guys like this chapter. Dedication time! This chapter is dedicated to Sasha_KV for all of her recent comments and votes on my first compleated ikarishipping story. I really love getting comments on my works so im glad you're enjoying my writing!

Anyway, enough chitchat, onto the story!

XxX

The next morning I was on edge. I knew Shinji would win so I wasnt worried about that. But I was nervous about weather or not he would actually show up. I mean, he has no reason to accept a battle from Kengo. It's obvious he isn't even close to being in the same league when it comes to battles as Shinji so why accept the challenge?

It couldn't be because of me? I mean come on he hated me! Well, hate is a strong word. But he disliked me very much. Could he see how much of a controlling asshat Kengo is just by that conversation? And why did he get so upset when Kengo grabbed me? I really wasn't expecting him to shield me from him before almost beating him up.

Honestly, Shinji is just so difficult to figure out. He acts like this bad ads trainer but then he goes and does something like this. I don't get it!

My mind was going crazy as I walked to the deck where the battle area had been set up. In my delirium I had managed to make it before anyone else, so I quickly took a seat in the far right corner, the person who had been challenged corner. I pulled out my pokeball and released my trusty partner Piplup who appeared in a flash of bubbles and blue light. With a spin and happy chirp he landed on my lap and looked up at me, confused as to why we were in an empty battle arena area.

" Morning Piplup. So we're here to watch a battle."

"Pip?" He looked at me with even more confusion laced with a bit of concern. I smiled sweetly at him and began to explain.

"Well, I ran into Kengo and Jun and like always he demanded I go with him." Immediately he jumped from my arms and began flapping his flippers wildly in fury.

"Pip piplup."

"Yeah yeah, I know." I said with a shake of my hands. By now more people had begun taking seats and there were a dozen or so other people around us. I grabbed Piplup to keep him from making a scene and continued speaking to him in a hushed voice. "But the weird thing is I ran into Shinji too."

"PIIIP!" The line of people filling in looking for seats all stopped and looked at us when he yelled. I grabbed his beak and sat him down giving him a stern look. He folded his flippers and turned his beak up in disgust as I tried to finish explaining.

"He's going to Afini too. But that's not the crazy part. Kengo interrupted me and Shinji and challenged him to a battle. So we're going to watch." By now he was listening to me since I was barely whispering. The seats were all filled and more people were lining up around the sidelines.

"Pip." He looked as confused as I was and that's when i noticed the Flyers. Apparently word had gotten out that a champion level trainer would battle a "world class" level coordinator. I guess they were using the term lightly since he was barely above C class.

We watched I see as a worker dressed as a referee stepped onto a podium and three people sat behind him, including Yuko-san. I assumed they would be judging the battle. Things had clearly gotten out of hand and I was going to say something when a flash of purple caught my eyes. Standing in front of me was a determined looking Shinji Aguri. I could tell he was displeased with the crowd turnout but he said nothing as Kengo lapped up the attention like a lillipup.

The battle was about to begin.

XxX

An intense silence washed over the area as the referee pulled out a microphone from Zapdos knows where and signaled the start of the battle.

"This will be a 1 vs 1 battle. The winner will be determined when either trainers pokemon is able to stand. Are you ready?"

With a curt nod from both Shinji and Kengo, I watched filled with anxiety as the ref threw up the white flag. "Battle begin!"

"Go Empolion!" Kengo tossed out his blue and red pokeball and in a flash of plain white light he emerged looking tired. Shinji smirked and threw his own pokeball in the air with his signature cry.

"Torterra, standby for battle!"

Kengo seemed excited upon seeing the ground grass type pokemon and smirked like he had already won. Big mistake on his part. "Finish this quickly with ice beam!"

"Stone edge then leaf storm." With a slam.of his giant front legs a slab of onyx stone sprang up in front of him essentially acting as a shield for the ice. The leaves on the tree on his back began to glow before thousands of sharp blades rushed at the unsuspecting water type. The move landed perfectly sending Empolion tumbling across the field.

"Oh no Empolion!" After checking that his pokemon was okay, Kengo glared at Shinji who only smirked in return. No longer was he smiling smugly, now he looked angry as he called out his next attack. "Use hydro pump! Knock that turtle on its back!"

"Meet it with hyper beam and follow with frenzy plant." Shinji said without a hint of nervousness. I thought he seemed bored with the battle based on his expression but honestly who could tell with how grumpy he always looks.

That must be the reason he called the attack that he did because as empolion bent its beak back to begin shooting out water, Torterra opened his own mouth and a beam of golden light erupted hitting the giant penguin before he ever had a chance. Falling over with swirls in his eyes, it was clear that Empolion had lost.

"Empolion is unable to battle. Torterra is the winner!" The ref called as he threw his flag down on the ground in Empolions direction. Shinji returned his pokemon wordlessly and Kengo stormed over to him with irritability in his eyes.

"You cheated!"

Shinji actually laughed at that, which was, in a word, weird. I hadn't ever heard him laugh before and the fact that he was laughing in Kengos face was even better. "It's not my fault your pokemon is so weak that it lost with a double type advantage."

"Why you…" Kengos face grew red with anger and he huffed, ready to begin a rant but once again, Shinji was too fast for him.

"Whatever. Leave me alone now, and leave Hikari alone or it won't just be your pokemon passed out on the floor." I was surprised at his threat and it seemed Kengo was too because he grew silent and began to shake with fury. Ignoring the urge to go rub the loss in his face, I grabbed Piplup and ran after my violet haired savior.

"Shinji wait up." I called out to him and surprisingly he stopped. I heard a groan of disapproval but he waited for me to catch up to him nonetheless.

"What do you want now?" I knew he wasn't as mad at me as he sounded. I wasn't sure why he seemed to put up with me but I wasn't complaining. At least he wasn't as mean to me as he was to everyone else. I knew he had really done something he didn't want to by battling kengo in front of that crowd and I felt pretty bad about it, even though I was thankful.

"Erm… arigato* Shinji. It'll be awhile before Kengo's pride heals up enough to bother me again." I bowed as I thanked him and sent him a bright smile. I held out a black bento box and waited. With a quizzical look on his face he accepted the prepacked meal I made him and I had to hold back a squeal of excitement.

"Whatever." He said rolling his eyes. A smirk was planted on his lips so I assumed he was joking. But again, who could tell with this guy? " Can I go now?"

I realized he was looking at the clock and when I saw the time I realized it was really time to get ready to land. "Uh yeah, sorry for interrupting your travels."

Without another word, Shinji turned and walked away from me. I smiled to myself thinking how lucky I was to know such a strong trainer when Piplup angrily pecked my foot.

"Lup piplup!"

"He's not that bad Piplup, he beat Kengo for me didn't he?" I was rubbing my foot and rolling my eyes at my stubborn pokemon. I knew he didn't like Shinji at all but he was overreacting just a bit in my opinion.

"Pip… pip piplup pi!" He argued back. Sure he made a good point, Shinji was ill tempered and brash for the most part, but he had shown me many times in the past, and just today with that battle that he's really not that bad of a guy.

"Well yea he's still rude but he still helped me out, so he can't be that horrible."

"Lup." My poor pokemon sighed in defeat. Even he had no argument against that. So smiling in sight of winning the argument, I picked him back up and started walking towards my room.

"Come on. Let's go get our stuff. We should be arriving in Afini any time now."

XxX

"Please check that you have all of your luggage and welcome to Afini! Thanks for sailing on the SS New Beginnings and we hope you enjoy your stay! Please see the ticket master on your way out for maps and sightseeing brochures!"

Ignoring the ear splitting voice on the intercom I grabbed my backpack and flung it over my shoulder before slamming my door behind me and leaving this Mew awful ship.

Already this journey was becoming bothersome and it hasn't even started yet. When I got on the ship, I was under the impression that I would only be in the presence of the strongest trainers. But judging on the ship ride here, that wasn't necessarily going to be the case.

I imagined I would run into that troublesome girl again at some point, only because the legendaries seemed to enjoy fucking with me. Unfortunately that also meant there was a high probability I would meet that Kengo perv again as well, which also meant my personal fanboy would probably be stalking me for a good portion of my trip. Great.

Shoving my way past the ever growing crowd, I made my way down the wooden ramp that had been set at the opening at the side of the ship. Ignoring the ticket master I pushed and shoved until I was finally around three hundred feet away from the dreadful metallic ocean prison.

I kept walking until I was at the edge of the vast jungle of the main island and finally allowed myself a breath. My hand, which had until now been in my pocket crushing Torterras pokeball finally emerged. Ball in hand, my trip loosened and I wondered to myself how I hadn't managed to destroy the contraption in my gripping anxiety.

Sighing in relief at the lack of damage, I tossed the ball in the air wirelessly, and in a flash of white light, my trusted starter appeared. "TERRA!"

With a mighty roar of his name and stomp of his foot, he landed with an intimidating pose that demanded recognition. I smirked at him. He was like me in so many ways… always wanting to show how strong he is, always ready for anything. He had always been my only friend and I trusted him more than myself sometimes. I walked up to him and reached up to pat his green moss covered face.

He grunted in approval and I began circling him to inspect his terrace. The rocks lining his shell looked solid and polished with no chips in site. The dirt on the outermost layer of shell was moist and rich brown in color. The moss at the base of his tree was squishy and soft to the touch. Filled with a robust earthy scent I could tell he had plenty of nutrients. Finally, I looked at the tree itself. The trunk was thick and sturdy. No wood was splintered or cracked, which was good. The leaves were a deep emerald color and had small white and yellow flowers blooming in various places. He'd never grown flowers before so that concerned me a little. He had a few branches that needed pruning, but other than that, he looked healthy and ready for travel.

I had hoped to avoid the pokemon center near the docs, but those damn flowers weren't supposed to be there. Swallowing my aggravation, I returned Torterra to his pokeball and sharply made my way towards the pokecenter.

Ok monsters time to vote!!!

When should Dawn and Paul start traveling together? And how?

. he stays the night at the pokemon center and when he leaves he overheard Kenny bugging Dawn again so he drug her along with him (immediately)

. she gets lost in the jungle and stumbles upon his camp. Since he's already asleep she joins without asking (after a week or two)

. they run into each other when they're both trying to catch the same pokemon and she follows him to argue when he catches it before her (after first island trial)


	7. Chapter 5

Ok monsters here's the first chapter for this week's update! There's no questions here but there will be questions on the next chapter! Mainly because this chapter is like 4k words lol.

Now for dedications... This one goes out to Nutellagirl on FFN for being the first to comment!

(Remember guys I'm posting on two platforms) on wattpad I'm Oneesama on FFN I'm Siren-nee-chan

If you'd like to view the art for this book you'll have to check out the published copy on wattpad because FFN doesn't let me post images.

Now enough chit chat, onto the story!

XxX

Walking down the steep slope of the ramp set up at the edge of the ship, I was met with a magical site. There were women in beautifully neon colored clothes. They were lined up along the ramp and were placing beautiful hand woven charm necklaces on each person's neck. I somehow wound up with two of them so I placed the extra carefully away in my bag. As I reached the shore and took my first step into a new region my ears picked up on the sound of drums.

Looking around I saw that the ship had cleared and the women previously lining the ramp were now performing some kind of dance. There were men with beautifully dark skin that was covered in tribal tattoos. They wore bright colored shorts matching the women's detailed dresses and no shirts, showing off their chiseled bodies. Sitting in a circle the men pounded and slapped on the drums. The deep vibrations making my body tingle as goosebumps began to appear, I was entranced.

The women swayed and bent in almost inhuman ways before gliding gracefully around the area. The men seemed to pour all of their energy into the song because with a loud battle cry the drumming suddenly stopped and the dance was over. I found myself clapping along with everyone else, but I turned to leave when the second song began.

As much as I was enjoying it, I had things I needed to do before I could even think of starting to travel. I walked towards the center of the town to see the giant town map. After looking for about five minutes I found the fastest way to the pokemon center and started my treck there.

Xxx

Walking into the pokemon center was very different from what i expected. There were no white walls with flat tv screens but instead glass tanks filled with thousands of gallons of seawater. I wondered what the thick glass was made of but was shaken from my thoughts when I heard a sewer giggle.

"Jambo*! I'm nurse Joi. Welcome to Bara island, how can I help you today?" I smiled and walked up to the woman. Like every other Joi, her hair was a peachish pink color. But instead of two hooped ties, it was fashioned in microbraids with white and red beads on the ends. She wore the official white dress shoes and hat which all other nurses Joi wear. Her eyes were dark brown and her skim was a beautiful caramel color. She was the prettiest nurse Joi I had ever seen.

Smiling lightly I wondered what that word had meant so I tried saying it myself. "Jambo?"

"Hehe, it's how we say hello here in Afini." She seemed to giggle a lot, but I didn't mind.

"Oh well then, Jambo!" I said happily with a wave of my hand.

"Hehe, perfect. So how can I help you today?"

Calming down, I took off my backpack and pulled out an envelope with paperwork in it. "A few things actually. First, I need a room."

Her smile faltered a bit and I was worried I would have to camp in the jungle tonight. I must have made a face because the worries melted away as she began to explain.

"Ah, because of the influx of trainers this week, I am low on rooms. At the moment I have a double room that's empty but it's possible you may have to share with another trainer if I run out of other rooms."

I let out a sigh of relief. "That's fine. But, if you have to pair me with a guy named Kengo please let me know before he comes to the room so I can leave and forfeit the room."

Her smile turned to a frown momentarily as she took in my words before she began giggling again. "I can do that. You'll be in room 211. Here's your keycard. What else can I help you with?"

I handed her the envelope and pulled out my purple pokedex which contained my trainer license as well as my information. "I need to register as a Geo catcher."

"Ok give me just a few minutes." Taking the items, she began typing away at her computer and I took the time to look around the lobby. It was so different than any pokemon center I'd seen before. It looked more like the cerulean gym in Kanto if I were to be honest. The walls were giant aquariums filled to the brim with real live fish! I had never seen a live fish before since I never really ventured into the open ocean, so I was excited to see a gleaming gold fish that was very chubby and had huge cheeks that looked like bubbles and were see through. I decided to call him Mr Blopee.*

While I was admiring Mr Blopee as he fought off a black and white spotted fish, Nurse Joi called me back to her desk which was, interestingly enough, another giant aquarium. I smiled at her and she giggled in return. Such a silly Joi this one was.

"So everything is in order. I've updated your pokedex and trainers license to reflect that you're now allowed to geocatch in Afini." She handed me my pokedext and my envelope which now held even more paperwork. I would need to get an actual folder for all of these sometime in the future.

" You'll need to update your license every five years and you can now carry up to twenty four pokemon at a time though you may only use six in your main team."

"Thank you so much!" I said with a bow. She giggled once again and waved her hands at me.

"Hakuna shida*. Is there anything else?" Her eyes were shining and I found myself hoping everyone in Afini was this silly. Maybe things could be fun for me this time around.

"Can I register for trials and bazaars here?"

"Samahini* but you'll have to do that once you reach Msitu Island. The first trial is there and that's where the bazaar tour begins so you can only register there."

i was a little disappointed but I shrugged it off. I had to go to Msitu anyway so I could just register once I got there. "Ah, that's ok. One last question then, how do I get to Msitu?"

Another giggle and toothy grin were given before she excitedly handed me a small paper map. "Head down to the eastern border. There is a village called Uvuvi and you can find a man named Auni and he will take you on his boat. It will take about an hour to get to Msitu from Uvuvi. Or you can take the ferry that goes from the docs. But it's usually full of people and you miss out on a lot of scenery and pokemon."

I smiled in return knowing that this journey really was going to be the best one yet. "Really? Wow thanks nurse Joi! I'll head that way tomorrow!"

"Well I'm glad I could help." She was about to walk away when I called out to her.

"One last thing, can you give my Piplup a check up please?"

"Sure would you like to let him stay overnight? We have a great play room for pokemon sleepovers as we like to call them. We have games with prizes and traditional story time. We teach them about Afini and encourage the pokemon to learn about each other. There should be a lot of pokemon here today too."

I thought about it and decided it would be a great opportunity for Piplup. He would definitely enjoy some friendly competition and maybe he'd win something cool. "That sounds really neat. I bet Piplup would love that."

"In that case you can pick him up tomorrow after seven."

"Thanks again nurse Joi. I'm gonna go shopping for supplies before I come to rest for the night." I turned to walk out, placing my pokedex in my pocket.

"Be safe." She called." Oh your pokedex now has updated maps for the islands. So don't get lost."

"I won't!" I called back as I ran out the door. The sweet scent of berries assaulted my nose and I smiled happily before pumping my fist in the air. After all of those months locked away in the hospital, I finally felt free.

"Shopping here I come!"

XxX

Cursing the absurd display in front of me, I shoved my way past the growing crowd of people. Entranced by some slutty looking women and attention seeking meat heads banging on drums and twitching in circles. They were all idiots. Watching that cult dang, it disgusted me. A flash of blue caught my eye and I felt myself grow extremely annoyed at the dancers upon noticing Hikari among the hypnotized audience.

Growling, I shoved past another, a bit more forcefully than was necessary I'll admit. But their screech was enough to make me feel better. I continued walking until I found a giant map. Looking, I immediately noted the red dot I was looking for and headed north.

After about fifteen minutes of walking, I made it to the all too familiar red roofed bricked building known worldwide as a pokemon center. I walked in, ignoring the vast difference in decor from the centers I was used to, and walked right up to the desk.

"Jambo! I'm nurse Joi, welcome to Bara island! How can I help you?"

For some reason she was giggling and the sound was irritating beyond belief. I quickly grunted a reply and pulled out Torterras pokeball. "I need you to check my Torterra, somethings wrong with him?"

"Oh no! Give me his pokeball and I'll get him fixed up straight away!" She took the capsule from my hand and was about to run to the back. I knew he wasn't in some sort of critical condition so I quickly grabbed her attention.

" Can you give me a room before you go?" I asked rather rudely. Her smile faltered but she giggled again and nodded her head like some sort of moron.

"Ah because of the influx of people today I'm out of single rooms. But I do have one bed available in a double room if you don't mind sharing with another trainer?"

Absolutely freaking perfect. Figures I would be too late for privacy. "That's fine, it's just for tonight anyway."

"Ok here's your cardkey. You'll be in room 211." I took the key and left immediately ignoring her stupid giggles on my way out. What an idiot.

XxX

I hated shopping. I hated the lines, the crowds, the insanity of it all. Lazy shoppers always moved things around making the shelves disorganized and difficult to navigate. Nosey old ladies always trying to start up a conversation or ask for help. It was disgusting. I hated people.

Normally when I was forced to shop, I would have Torterra with me. But he was at the pokemon center and I had to face this hell alone. I rushed through each asile, taking little care in the things I was grabbing. I filled my cart with potions, restores, HM discs, pokemon food and treats, pokeballs, heals,lures, repels, and for some reason, I grabbed a pack of pokeball seals.

I moved on to the human side of the ship and grabbed cooking supplies, a new sleeping bag, a tent, and a new notebook and pencil. I decided to grab a little bit of food since I mostly stocked up on bags of snacks from the ship.

I looked through the Isles of dehydrated packaged food and grabbed noodles, berries, vegetables, rice, nori, tofu, bread, pancake mix, oatmeal, cereal, nutbutter, and since actual pork seafood was for some reason very cheap, I grabbed shrimp, scallops, crab, salmon, lobster, pork, bacon, and sausage.

Everything was dehydrated except the bread so it would last a long time. From the cold section I grabbed eggs butter, cheese, cream cheese, moomoo milk, lunch meat, pickles, creamer, and yogurt. Finally I grabbed some syrups, sauces, coffee, tea, sweetener, oil, and spices and left.

I made it back to the pokemon center around nine at night which meant I couldn't pick up Torterra until 7 in the morning. Growling at the thought, I made my way up the stairs and towards my room.

Now, I knew I had a roommate, but I had assumed since I'm very obviously a nineteen year old male, I would be put in a room with another male. I assumed incorrectly. I can say with one thousand percent certainty that I was not expecting to walk into … this.

"Holy Mew."

XxX

Embarrassed. No that's not a strong enough word. Mortified, yeah that's it. I was mortified. Let me go back to last night and explain just why exactly I was feeling this way shall we?

After a long day of shopping and making sure I had all the necessary equipment for geocatching, I had returned to the pokemon center exhausted and sweaty. Afini was as beautiful as it was hot and humid.

I decided to go take a shower and since I hadn't been assigned a roommate after all I decided to only take my robe and towel and change once I was back in the room. I didn't like changing in front of people because they always had questions about the scars on my back.

After double checking that the washroom was clear, I took my shower and returned to my still empty room. If I heard the knock on my door I would have answered it and nurse Joi would've told me I had a roommate that would be back soon. But I didn't hear it and she didn't tell me.

So after stripping from my robe and sliding undo my underwear I stood in all my naked glory facing the door. I let my wet hair loose from the towel and the long midnight locks fell to cover just enough, thankfully because in that exact moment, the door opened and who else would walk in but Shinji freaking Aguri!

He just stood there, wide eyed with his mouth hanging open like some sort of beached magikarp. He dropped the grocery bags in his hands and whispered something to himself. That's when I heard myself start screaming.

I'm not sure what I said but it snapped him out of his daze. I curled up into a ball on the floor trying to cover myself, thanking every legendary that I had at least had the important parts covered. My eyes started burning and I knew I was going to cry. I didn't want any man, especially Shinji to see my body. It was disgusting. Covered in scars, pale and sickly looking, I was ashamed and the man that I never wanted to see me like this was standing over me looking at me with pity.

I never wanted potty. Not from him. I took the robe he was holding out and scrambled back into it. He left the room and I got dressed faster that I've ever done in my life and by the time he returned to the room, I was curled up in my bed pretending to be asleep. Silent tears stung my eyes as I heard him whisper to me before laying down and going to sleep.

"I'm sorry."

So yeah, standing here in front of nurse Jois desk next to Shinji waiting for our pokemon at exactly seven am is more than a bit awkward. I was wishing to be anywhere but here but I couldn't leave without Piplup.

Finally she emerged with two pokeballs. She began explaining to Shinji that the flowers on Torterras tree were a good thing that meant he was at the peak of health and ready to breed. She then told me Piplup needed a GS stone since he had absorbed an everstone.

A GS stone raises the pokemon ability and stats to unattainable levels and allows them to become as strong as a fully evolved pokemon. It will also allow them to use mega evolution even though they aren't in their final forms but it's rare because the bond between trainer and pokemon must be strong as blood.

Right when she was about to hand us our pokeballs, Kengo walked in and my day got even worse. Something I didn't think possible.

"Hey Pikari! Are you ready to go?"

I saw Hikari's body visibly cringe in disgust at the sound of his voice. "Shinji beat you. I don't have to go with you now leave me alone." She answered matter of factly. I had to admit, I didn't expect her to be so blunt.

"Aww come on Pikari don't be like that." He tried to hug her but she backed away from him and closer to me. For some unknown reason, I didn't cringe away like I normally would have.

"Stop calling me that." His smile turned to a frown and his brows turned down in frustration. He looked pissed and Hikari was looking pretty close to furious herself.

"It's not like you're going with Shinji." He blurted out pointing an accusing finger at me. Pfft, as if I had anything to do with this.

" You're gonna get lost or hurt, probably both, then scared and lonely and you'll be wishing you had just come with me. So why not save yourself the trouble?" He crossed his arms and looked at her smugly like he had just proven pokemon were sentient.

Hikari on the other hand just laughed. Loudly. "You're something else you know that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" His smirk was replaced by a look of pure hatred until he threw up his arms as if to make some sort of point.

"If I remember correctly, you passed out in the middle of a performance and haven't been back since! Don't act like you're some perfect trainer because after four years, you barely qualify."

Up until this point myself and nurse Joi had been silent. Surprising even myself, I grabbed both mine and her minimized pokeballs, shoved them in my pocket, and grabbed her hand. I pushed Kengo to the floor with enough force to make him cough and pulled her out of the pokemon center behind me. Walking east, my hand didn't leave hers as we walked deep into the jungle down an unmarked path.

She was shaking with nerve or fury, I'm not sure which, but I felt myself giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. She looked at me with a halfhearted smile before squeezing back and looking at the ground. Her face, the look in her eyes… she looked broken.

Over the years when it came to this troublesome girl, I had many feelings. But the feeling I got after seeing the light in her eyes gone was something new. All the annoyance, the irritation, the amusement that I normally found in this girl was gone and replaced by one thing. Confusion.


	8. Chapter 6

Hey monsters! Sorry for the short chapter but the last one was twice as long as usual so this makes up for it lol! Anyway this is just a little filler chapter it's about 1.5k words. As yall have probably noticed, I have been working on other things for the story fir you guys. So yeah. But here's the next chapter along with an important question for you all!

Now onto the story!

XxX

My mind was spinning and my chest was hurting. So many emotions were clashing inside my brain and I wasn't sure what I was feeling anymore. Kengo was right. After four years did I really even still deserve to call myself a trainer?

I'm sure Shinji would agree with him, at least about this. I was ashamed and embarrassed. Why did that idiot have to say those things in front of Shinji?!

I felt a squeeze and realized Shinji was still holding my hand. I looked at him with the best smile I could muster before I looked back down at the ground. I couldn't trust myself to talk.

I was angry. Angry at Kengo for making me look like an idiot. Mad at myself for being weak. Mad at Shinji for hearing my failures. As if the legendaries were bored they decided they didn't care about the silence I was praying for; and in a very un Shinji like way, he asked me the one question I hoped he wouldn't.

"So… what did that moron mean back there?. He didn't look at me but I could tell he was being careful about what he said. How hypocritical. The great Shinji Aguri, the guy who talked crap to champions, was walking on eggshells around me.

"I don't want to talk about it." I said sound more like Shinji than he did at the moment.

"He said you passed out. I thought you said you quit because you were sick?" There it was. He was being careful not to hurt the poor little sick girls feelings. Why couldn't he understand that i just wanted him to treat me like he always had? I wanted him to be straight with me, but that wasn't gonna happen.

"What part of 'I don't want to talk about it' don't you get?!" I yelled. Maybe if I pissed him off her snap and go back to normal.

"Whatever." I sighed. He sounded hurt instead of angry. I didn't know why and honestly, I didn't really care. I didn't want him treating me different. With a final squeeze I let his hand go in a huff and threw my arms down in defeat.

"I'm sorry Shinji." I said looking at the ground. I know he heard me because I looked up to see him staring at me with a blank expression.

"Hn."

"So what now you're mad at me too?"

Silence… I couldn't take it. I didn't know what I wanted from him but he obviously only had me around because he felt bad for me. How's annoying.

"Whatever. You know, You're just like everyone else." I turned my back to him and started walking east off the path.

"Where are you going?" There was a hint of concern laced in his voice but I chose to ignore it and keep walking without faltering.

"I'm leaving. Thanks for bailing me out, again. I'll try to stay out of your way from now on."

As I stormed away I could only keep yelling at myself in my head. Why? Why had I snapped? Why did I let go of his hand? I wanted to run back into the safety of his arms but I was too upset with myself to face him. So I did the logical thing. I ran.

I ran for what felt like hours. Tears that I had been fighting fell freely down my cheeks and I wound up tripping on an exposed root. I rumbled forward crashing to a fault on my back.

"Ouch." I stood up and wiped the dirt from my clothes and took a look at my surroundings. I had landed in a clearing next to an old hollowed out tree. I looked inside and saw a deteriorating nest filled with shattered dusty shell fragments. I was about to move in when a faint glow caught my eye.

Using my hands I pushed away the debris and dirt until I reached the back of the tree. I felt something hard and gave it a hard tug. I fell back onto my but, and I was in shock at what I had pulled out.

It was an egg. It looked old and I could tell from its temperature that it was abandoned. I pulled my backpack off and dug around until I found my sleeping blanket. I wrapped the egg up and put my bag back on before cradling the egg in my left arm. With my right hand I dug in my pocket and pulled out my pokedex.

I looked up my location and found the fastest route to Uvuvi. After memorizing the map, I took a deep breath and took off running again. This time I had a destination, and a purpose.

XxX

"Idiot girl." I grumbled to myself as I played with both pokeballs in my pocket. "So angry she forgot her pathetic penguin."

It was true. In her little outburst, she had run off without getting her pokeball back from me. I wasn't sure whether to be annoyed at the fact that I now had to look for her to make sure she didn't get hurt without a pokemon, concerned that she actually forgot her starter pokemon, or worried that she may have left him on purpose and Kengo's words hurt her more than I thought.

The worried scenario seemed to take root in my mind and I found myself running faster and deeper into the unknown jungle. I saw a root sticking up in the path so I slowed to avoid it. When I did, I heard a thump followed by a stunned gasp.

Hiding behind a large tree I watched in relief as Hikari sat on the ground crossed legged like a child. She had a cream colored egg with brown clouds on it in her hands and her eyes were filled with sadness and hope.

The egg must have been abandoned because she pulled a blanket out, wrapped the egg up and took off running east. I vaguely remembered nurse Joi saying something about Uvuvi and a ferry to Msitu.

I let out a sigh and began following her. I had to give her back her dumb pokemon and I needed to make sure she didn't die. Plus I needed to get to Msitu so I wasn't going out of my way. Honestly I should've just left the blue blunder behind and hoped she found him but instead I found myself clutching his ball just as tightly as Torterras.

Strangely, Piplup pokeball grew warm like he was sending me a hug as I gripped his capsule. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. But I ignored it and pushed forward. I had to get to Uvuvi.

Hey monsters! Time to vote! This one is hard but I need to introduce one of these two soon. (They'll both be introduced eventually) but for now go ahead and choose who you'd like to see first!

O

k monsters, here's today's important interactive question.

Which character should I introduce first? They will both be introduced at some point but I need to introduce one of them soon and depending on who it is, the story will develop differently.

Don't forget this is technically a horror story so the scary stuff is gonna start sooner or later.

So here are your choices!

. Dawn meets her first rival who is mean as crap and very good at making her feel inadequate … in short, she's a bully

. Dawn meets a guy who is very nice and reminds her a lot of Ash. He is interested in her unknown to her and because she's lonely she befriends him (#loverival)


	9. Chapter 7

Hey monsters! Here's another shortish chapter. Probably the last one for the week. I'm going to be working on sketches and maps for Msitu this week for you guys! So this chapter is dedicated to my oldest son Isaac who gave me the idea for Shinjis battle at his camp. My son is 10 so I hope you enjoy my new trainers idea! This chapter is about 2k words so I guess it's not that short lol. The whole chapter in in Shinjis pov this time. Let me know if you prefer it this way and ill try to stick to one pov per chapter. Although i personally like switching it every page break (XxX).

Anyway, enough chit chat... Onto the story!!!

XxX

I had followed that stupid girl for hours. Amazingly she didn't stop once except for when she realized Piplup wasn't with her. I watched her debate going back when the egg… shivered I guess you could call it… and she decided against it. I guess she figured he was fine with me while the egg needed immediate attention.

When we finally made it to Uvuvi it was already dark. I waited a good hour after she went in before I followed only to discover there were no rooms available. That would be my luck.

Deciding against saying anything about the seemingly inadequate pokemon centers this island seemed to have, I left and went back to the jungle to set up camp.

I released Torterra and Piplup, much to both of their confusion, and explained the situation.

"Look, hikari got mad and took off. That's why you're with me instead of her." Torterra seemed to accept that and walked off to enjoy some berries from a nearby tree. Piplup pn the other hand looked hurt and angry.

"PIP!!" I could only assume he was yelling what at me so I explained further. "Shut up. She's in the pokemon center."

"Lup piplup!" He was pointing his flippers and squawking like an idiot wondering why I hadn't returned him.

"Look, its nine at night and she's probably asleep. She found an egg that's why she came here instead of going back for you."

"Pip?" He seemed to calm down so I finished explaining with one final sentence. "I'll take you to her tomorrow."

"Piplup!" He squealed in excitement much to my displeasure.

"Whatever. Are you hungry?"

"Pip."

"Here." I placed two bowls on the ground and filled them with the new 'tropical trail' pokéchow I had bought. " Hurry up and eat. After this were training before we go to bed."

"Pii…" he opened his beak to argue but Torterra cut him off with a firm nudge of his vine.

"No complaining. You can handle one day of training with me can't you? Or are you too weak and pathetic?" I knew his pride wouldn't allow my challenge to go unanswered and I was right. He puffed his chest out and glared at me in defiance.

"Piplup!"

"Hn. That's what I thought. Now eat up." Before I knew it he and Torterra were both digging into their food. I pulled out the bento box hikari had given me and decided 'what the hell'.

Inside were three separate compartments. The first had still steaming dumplings with a spicy chili sauce to dip them in. The second compartment had shredded meat of some kind, I think it was pork, mixed with pineapple rice soy ginger and green onions. The bottom had dessert. It was cold cheesecake with mixed razz berries and cherri berries.

I ate the entire box in ten minutes. It was the best thing I had ever eaten, but id never admit that aloud. I handed piplup the box and two bowls and he washed them out using bubble beam. After that I put everything away, set up my tent and turned to both awaiting9 pokemon.

"Time for training."

I will admit, I was surprised at what the little fur ball could do. He kept up with my training even though I was harder on him.than I should've been. He never once complained no matter how many times Torterra threw him around like a play thing.

He shocked me with his move set. He knew ten attacks, a feat for any fully evolved pokemon that I was unaware was even possible for a first stage to accomplish. Bide, scald, bubble beam, hydro pump, drill peck, rain dance, ice beam, surf, auora beam, and freeze dry were the moves it knew and I was impressed.

He must have been at a much higher level than I thought so I decided to give him a T.M that I had purchased by mistake.

"You're better than I thought." I said with a nod of approval. " That's enough for today."

"Luup." The tiny bit of respect I gained was slipping away as the blue blunder fell face first on the floor.

"Get up!" I yelled and he jumped to his feet immediately. With another nod I handed him the tiny silver disc. " Take this."

"Pip?" He looked it over before tucking it into his fur and looking at me in bewilderment.

"It's a T.M for the move avalanche. I don't need it." I said uncaringly hoping he wouldn't make a big deal of it. Yeah right.

"Piplup!" He jumped onto my leg in what I guessed was a hug. I kicked him off in disgust.

"Get off of me. It's time for bed."

"Pip lup piplup." I had no idea what he was saying so i just shrugged and pulled out both his and Torterras pokeballs. "Hn. Now return both of you."

I crawled into my sleeping bag and closed my eyes falling into an immediate seamless sleep. It felt like only minutes had passed but I woke to the sound of rustling outside my tent and realized the sun was already beginning to rise.

I stood up out of my bag and grabbed what I thought was Torterras pokeball. Walking outside, I saw a strange looking pokemon that I knew to be a volkit. It was small, maybe a foot tall and three long if you included its long tail.

It's body was covered in a dark purple fur and it's back was dotted with golden spots. It had a tuft of golden hair like fur on its head and long fangs that made it look like it was smiling.

I tossed 'Torterras' pokeball and was pissed to see Hikaris partner appear. In my case i just have grabbed the wrong ball. Oh well, time to put his training to good use.

"Alright Piplup it's time to prove you're not a pathetic excuse of a pokemon."

"Piplup!" He seemed eager to battle for me which led me to believe he enjoyed battling. Interesting.

"Alright. Start off with drill peck and follow with ice beam!" I commanded.

"Pip~lup!" With a call of his name he rushed towards the hyena pokemon. His beak began to glow and grow until it was twice the length of his body and rotating at 100rpm. He slammed into the felines side sending it crashing into a nearby tree. He retracted his beak to normal size before crying out again as he released a blue beam of ice.

The ice hit its leg which was probably for the best since ut had gotten up and was rushing towards my awaiting "teammate". "He's going in for crunch, dodge it and use scald!"

"Lupp!" Without hesitation, he jumped and spun over volkit and landed behind it. He opened his beak and shot a beam of boiling water causing the volkit to cry out in pain.

"Good, finish it with another drill peck." I instructed with confidence. Hikari's pokemon wasn't half bad after all.

"Pip!" With a final strike, volkit was down for the count. I ran into my tent and grabbed an empty pokeball and threw it. "Alright. Pokeball, go!"

I watched the ball Sail through the sky until it bounced on the fallen volkit's side. A red light engulfed it and I waited as the ball began to shake a few times before a ding was heard signaling a completed capture. I grabbed my pokedex and scanned the ball. It was a dark and electric type. It was at a high level and had a decent move set. I decided to keep it and felt a twinge of pride that the squirt was able to defeat such a tough opponent.

I gave him an oran berry before returning him and packing camp up. Since the sun was already up I decided to go for a run before heading into the pokemon center. I had a feeling it would be a long day.

XxX

"Jambo welcome to Uvuvi village pokemon center, how can I help you?. This pokemon center was decorated the sane as the last one so I again ignored the colorful decor and walked to the desk.

"I need these pokemon healed." Thankfully this Joi wasn't as hardheaded as the last and she took the three pokeballs from my hand with urgency.

"Of course, anything else?"

"Yes" I said before she could run off. An Audino was already at her side taking the pokeballs from her hands and placing them on a tray. "Is there a trainer named Hikari Aoki here?"

"Yes sir." She looked confused as to why I was asking so I quickly added, "The Piplup is hers. Can you return him for me?"

A smile spread across her face and she nodded happily. "Of course! Will you be needing a room?"

"No I'm headed to Msitu island." Of course they had rooms now that I didn't need one. My luck really sucks.

"Ok let me get your pokemon fixed up. I'll be right back." She left behind a double door with her Audino following behind. I finally decided to look at the walls and realized it wasn't paintings, but actual marine life in the walls.

I became interested in a dark colored fish with whiskers. It was stretched across the glass feeding on the algie. Before I had a chance to look further I heard a ringing sound. I looked up and saw fifteen minutes had passed, and as promised, nurse Joi had returned with not three but two pokeballs. I felt a strange feeling in my chest upon seeing this but brushed it off as indigestion. I shouldn't have eaten so much spicy chili sauce.

"Your pokemon are in perfect health. Here's a voucher for a free ferry ride since you went through the trouble of returning a missing pokemon."

"Thank you." I accepted the ticket and my pokeballs and turned to leave. There were too many colors in this building, it was giving me a headache.

"Have a safe trip!" She called after me. I didn't respond aside from halfheartedly waving my hand in her direction to signal I had heard her. I didn't want to risk any more time in that building or I might run into Hikari. She was mad at me so I didn't want to bother her. I figured if I hurried, I could get to the next stop before her so she doesn't get annoyed seeing me again.

Thank Arceus I made it out of there in one piece. Now to get the hell off of this island.

XxX

k monsters here's your next question! What eeveeloution would you like to see Hikari get?

. Ghost . Poison

. Dragon . Bug

. Fighting . Flying

. Ground . Steel/Rock


	10. Chapter 8

Hey monsters! Time for the next chapter! I just want to say a quick thank you to AiraXue paul_shinji and pansy1 for your constant comments and support. It really gives me motivation to keep writing even though this book doesnt have too many readers. Im excited that you 3 are enjoying the story so much and I really hope I live up to your expectations. Now just so you know, im introducing a new character today so be sure to check out the illustration page!

I do have a question. Would you guys like me to make a separate book for illustrations for this story, add illustrations to chapters instead of one chapter just for images, create a separate site just for illustration, or continue doing images the way I have been? It's up to you, let me know in the comments!

Now, onto the story!

XxX

I felt refreshed and a lot less angry than I had the night before. I still couldn't believe I left Piplup behind but I knew he'd be safe with Shinji for one night. My plan for the day was to pick up my new egg and make my way back in the direction i left Shinji. Knowing him, he was already headed towards Msitu. I only hoped he hadn't left Piplup behind.

The thought of Piplup locked away in his pokeball, alone, in the middle of the jungle sent a rush of uncertainty through me and I hurried to the lobby of the pokemon center.

"Good morning Nurse Joi." After about three minutes I had made it to the front. Nurse joi was standing behind her desk wearing a lovely smile.

"Habari za asubuhi! Are you here for your egg?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

"Yes ma'am. I need to hurry though," She gave me a quizzical look and I looked down in shame. " I left my Piplup with a friend and-" before I could explain, she cut me off.

"Ah! You mean the young man with violet hair?" Was Shinji in Uvuvi? He had to be. Than was he at the pokemon center? Did he still have Piplup? A million questions were running through my mind and so I found myself at a loss for words.

"Erm...yeah?" I asked more than said.

"He was just here actually. He left your Piplup with me. I'll go get him for you." She went to the back and I let out a sigh of relief. Shinji really had changed. I was trying to think of a way to thank him when Nurse Joi returned with a pokeball and a glass case.

"Thank you so much!" I bowed taking my new incubator and my favorite pokeball.

"Your Piplup is in perfect health. I went ahead and had him use his T.M disc, I hope that's ok." T.M disc? Where did he get that? Maybe he won it during the pokemon sleepover? I waited for the explanation of the mystery move but got none.

"Your egg is in great health considering how near death it was when you brought it in. I suspect it was abandoned because of its discoloring. I've treated it and I'd expect it to hatch sometime in the next two months."

"I don't know how to thank you."

"Sawa-sawa! Now where are you headed?. She asked with a wave of her hand. Thank Arceus all nurse Joi were so kind.

"Msitu island ma'am. I'm actually supposed to look for Auni the fisherman. Do you know him by any chance?"

"Ah yes you mean mvuvi mzee. You can find him nearby. Just head east about five hundred yards and turn left. Keep going straight until you see the line of boathouses on the dock. Auni's is the green and gray one."

"Thank you again nurse Joi. I'm gonna head that way now." I turned to walk away and out of the center. I needed to find Shinji and thank him. Although I still had no idea how to do that. Once I made t outside, I tucked my egg away in my bag and let Piplup out of his ball. He didn't do hid udual flp and he definetely didnt jump in my arms. No, instead he was too angry with me to be happy to see me, and he immedietely began pecking at my feet while yelling furiously.

"Pp Pip Lup PIPLUP!"

"I know! I'm so sorry Piplup, I wasnt thinking!"

"Piplup piip, lup lup pp lip piplup."

"Really? You made t through Shnjis training and helped him catch a pokemon? That's amazing!"

"Lup!"

"Well im glad he took care of you. I really am sorry I left you behind… I, kinda blew up on him."

:PIPLUP!"

"I know, I know, but… Hey wait a minute, since when are you defending Shnji??"

"Piiii...lup."

"Anyway," I said rolling my eyes playfully, "Shinji was being like everyone else and trying to be nice because he felt bad for me. I don't want nor do i need pty, espescally from Shinji freaking Aguri! So I yelled at him and stormed off. I didnt even realize he still had your pokeball! On my way away from Shinji, I tripped and fell into an old hollowed out tree and found an egg. I took it to nurse Joi and she said t was nearly dead, but she fixed it up anad she said t should hatch n the next three months!"

"Lup piplup!"

"Well now we head to Msitu island and register for the trials and bazaars while I think of a way to apologize for freaking out and thank Shinji for taking care of you."

We walked in a comfortable quiet for the rest of the way. Once we reached the boat houses we ran straight to Auni's boat and our journey finally began.

XxX

This heat was gonna be the death of me. Why I thought coming to an island region was a good idea, I'll never understand. I wouldn't admit it out loud, but I really missed the cool snowy landscape back in Sinnoh.

I was walking alone down a beaten up path looking for some old man's boat house thing. Supposedly it was the fastest way to Msitu so I ignored the nagging feeling in my gut that was saying going this way was gonna ruin my day.

I should've listened to my gut because not even five minutes into my treck, I was confronted by some guy wanting a battle. I didn't think much of him, he didn't look very tough although it was obvious he was trying to.

He wore a brightly colored island style button up shirt that clashed against his ebony skin. It was left open purposely in the front revealing his pathetic excuse of a six pack. He wore dark red headphones over his braided hair that matched his open toed sandals.

What kind of moron wears sandals in the jungle?! His stupid outfit was finished with some black gym style shorts and a rediculious grin on his face.

"Jambo! I'm Toka Inu, you up for a battle newbie?" Ignoring his outburst, I walked over towards the opposite side of the area we were in. I pulled out Torterras pokeball and waited for this Toka jackass to do the same.

"Oh cool so you do wanna battle! What's your name?" I just glared at him. He faltered a bit before clearing his throat and pulling a pokeball off his belt.

"Erm.. Ok then, go Hyinvol!"

"Torterra, standby for battle!"

In a bright flash of white light, both of our pokemon appeared. Toka's was the second evolved stage to Volkit so I was interested to see it in battle. With a creepy high pitched laugh and show of its small fangs it grinned as it awaited the upcoming battle. "Hyi hyi!"

Torterra called his own name in response, glaring at the strange violet pokemon. "Terra!"

The playboy wasted no time in taking the first move and our battle began. "Ok Hyinvol, use dark pulse!"

"Stone edge." I said calmly. This wasn't something we were not used to. Many times, trainers try to take advantage of my pokemon slow nature, but they always fail to realize that we've obviously come up With an effective method of protecting ourselves.

And just like I expected, that is what happened. The hyena pokemon opened its large mouth and shot out a gleaming purple orb that ran straight for Torterras face. But becayse he's my pokemon, he was still faster. He slammed his two front legs on the ground and immediately three giant slabs of granite appeared in front of him. They acted as a shield and the dark pulse bounced off of them, crashing into the ground right next to the Hyinvol that had originally released it.

"Dang it!" He yelled in frustration. He then smirked and called his next move. "It's ok buddy, let's try shadow claw!"

He seemed really proud of himself for coming up with that move. I just rolled my eyes and gave Torterra a curt nod. He knew what to do. "Grab it with frenzy plant."

With no further instructions, my contenant pokemon slammed his legs with a mighty roar. The ground beneath Hyinvol began to glow green until hundreds of thorny green vines sprouted. They grew and grew until they were wrapped around the now struggling dark pokemon.

I couldn't figure out why this idiot hadn't called out an electric attack. He called me a newbie yet here he was making a rookie mistake. I shrugged my shoulders and continued to watch The playboy panic. While still holding onto the plum and gold pokemon, Torterra raised him up around ten feet in the air before slamming him down into the ground face first.

He repeated the process four or five times and I figured I had had enough fun toying around with this loser playboy of a trainer. "Finish this... earthquake."

"Hyinvol get out of there!" I could see the panic in his face as Torterra slammed Hyinvol one final time. Holding him in place my faithful starter slammed his left foot on the ground multiple times. As the ground began to shake, Hyinvol began to struggle. "GET OUT OF THERE HYINVOL!"

His frantic calls couldn't be heard over the wonderful call that was my pokemon warcry. "Torrrr~Terraaaaa!"

With one final slam, the ground began to quake and crumble. Rocks began tossing themselves around and eventually, the feline like pokemon fainted. "NO! hyinvol"

The playboy ran to his pathetic pokemon side and began to stroke his fur before holding out a pokeball and returning him. "Hey, you did great buddy."

I pulled out my own pokeball and returned my starter with a praise of my own. "Torterra return. Well done."

After claiming my money from… I don't remember his name, playboy I guess, I turned to go on my way. I made it about ten feet when i noticed him following me. Growling, I turned and stomped off, hoping he would get the hint.

He didn't.

Much to my annoyance, he kept following me. I could hear his music from his headphones and his humming was driving me nuts. I finally snapped. "What do you want?!"

"I just happen to be going this way." He shrugged his shoulders and went back to humming. I couldnt believe he could even hear me over that Mew awful music he was listening to. I wanted nothing to do with him so I stopped walking.

"Then go ahead of me and get away from me." Much to my irritation, he stopped and looked at me with the most hideous smile I'd ever seen.

"Aw come on, don't be that way. You're headed to old man Auni's boat right? He's my mom's friend and I'm taking him some stuff. We might as well go together."

"I'd rather not." I said and took off walking again. This time at a faster pace, jogging if you wanted to be technical about it. But this asshole just wouldn't give up. He came running right behind me. I couldn't understand why I seemed to be the legendaries favorite form of entertainment, but I figured I was screwed either way.

"Too bad. You're stuck with me til we get there…" he waited for me to tell him my name and I just growled. Just because I was stuck with him didn't mean I wanted to be his friend. I think he finally picked up on that because he got frustrated."Come ON! What's your name newbie?"

"Do. Not. Call. Me. That.. My voice was low and threatening. He gulped in nervousness but pestered on anyway.

"Well what's your name then huh? If you don't tell me I'm just gonna keep calling you newbie." His matter of fact tone of voice pissed me off. I was FAR from a newbie and this rookie playboy was being disrespectful. So I told him who I was to shut him up.

"My name, is Shinji Aguri; and if you call me newbie again, I'm gonna give you a beating worse than the one your pokemon just got."

"Jeez no need to be so hostile." He shook his hands in front of me. A second or two later my name finally clicked and he went fanboy on me. I swear I could see the lightbulb go off in his head when he realized who I was. Only problem with that was, he didn't shut up. "Wait… did you say you're Shinji, like THE Shinji from Sinnoh?"

"Are you deaf?" I growled. What a fucking idiot. What other Shinji Aguri would I be?!

"No?" He sounded confused about his own answer which led me to the conclusion that he was daft as well as annoying.

"Then why are you asking me these idiotic questions if I already gave you an answer?" He seemed to ignore the purposeful hostility in my voice which by this point had my blood boiling.

"Dude you're like, famous!"

"I loathe that term."

"Whatever man, I bet you get all the girls back home!" How disgusting. Why were all guys my age such perverts? Girls will get you nowhere and I just couldn't understand why everyone seemed to be obsessed with them. I hoped he would take my lack of response as a signal to shut up, yeah right.

"Yeah I bet your body count is high. I myself have a count of 6 so far." I wanted to puke. What a completely distasteful thing to do, let alone announce. I don't know if he thought I would think that was cool. But I really just thought about how absolutely slutty he must be. You're not supposed to sleep with people as a hobby. Fucking twat.

"Disgusting."

"What? Girls? Don't tell me youre gay?!" Not sure how he came to that conclusion but whatever. It was better than him trying to get me to open up about me non-existent sex life.

"And if I was?"

"Shits not natural man." Wonderful, not only was he gross and probably riddled with venereal disease, he was a bigot.

"So you're disgusting and homophobic, good to know." He seemed to ignore my blatant insult and focus on my imaginary homosexuality. This bugged me though. "So … are you?"

"What?" Why was he so stuck on this?! He was going to drive me to do something stupid soon.My only actual friend, technically cousin, was gay and ever since he came out I've noticed rampant homophobia worldwide that I'd never noticed before. I hated it.

"GAY man?!"

"That's none of your business." Obviously I wasn't gay but like I said, what I insert my body parts into is none of his business.

"Well darn, guess you're not as awesome as everyone says." What an asshole. And if I think you're an asshole then you're doing too much.

"It took you this long to realize that? You must be stupid."

"Hey man, no need to be hostile. I bet you just haven't met a good enough looking girl yet!" He's back on that? What the actual hell?!

"Can you shut up!" I was about to say fuck it and run the rest of the way, but the jungle opened up and in front of me where a line of boathouses, there was nowhere for me to run. Great.

"Ok look we're here. Looks like old man Auni already has a passenger. She's hot!" I looked up and my annoyance with this playboy turned to hatred.

Of course Hikari would be at Auni's house and on her way to Msitu. She probably ran around looking for me before coming and that's why we're here at the same time. She had changed into a pair of white knee high leggings and a purple crossed halter top with a see through violet cover and violet shoes. She looked beautiful and the playboy was making disgusting and degrading remarks. I didn't think I could handle much more of his nonsense.

"Stop talking." I said as I began walking towards Auni's boat.

"Come on man, you can't honestly say you wouldn't hit that can you?" I was going to hit him if he didn't shut his Mew damn mouth.

"Bro, she's like really hot! I bet she's a model or something. I think I'll make her lucky number seven!"

"Excuse me?" I knew damn well what he meant and for some reason, the thought of Hikari with this loser made me feel like throwing up. He finally noted my discomfort but for all the wrong reasons.

"Oh did you want her man? She looks pretty fun, I bet she'd let us both take a turn." I walked off. I couldn't listen to his perverted mouth one more second. Honestly he's lucky I'm too tired to fight, because I wanted to rip his throat out. I shouldn't have done that though, because I looked over and saw him making his way to Hikari with a stupid grin on his face.

This was gonna be a difficult boat ride after all.

XxX

Time for the interactive question. Do you want Toka to stick around for a few chapters or vanish and pop back up later? We're coming up on the first island trial and it's got a twist I think you guys will like! Be on the look out for the next chapter!


	11. Chapter 9

Hey monsters! Sorry it took me so long to update, I havent been feeling well and started working on a future chapter instead of this one like the weirdo I am lol. Anyway this is kind of a filler chapter. We have one more chapter before they FINALLY get to Msitu and they begin to prepare for their first trial.

So yeah I hope you guys enjoy this one! Now enough talk, onto the story!!!

XxX

I had just finished talking with Mr Auni who agreed to give me a ride to Msitu when two figures appeared from seemingly out of nowhere. My face immediately reddened when I saw the familiar mop of mauve hair. "Shinji! What are you doing here?"

"Headed to msitu, same as you." He answered in his usual gruff tone. I looked down and started playing with the hem of my shirt. I couldn't bring myself to look at him but I knew I needed to say something. I heard him start to walk away and I panicked.

"Oh. Shinji?"

His footsteps stopped and he turned back to look at me. "Hn?"

I didn't know what to say. I didnt really expect him to stop when I called so I just said the first thing that popped in my head. "Thank you for bringing Piplup back to me, and I'm sorry I ran off like that. "

He gave me a curt nod and started to walk again. After a few steps he looked back at me expectantly so I rushed to his side and we began to walk again. "I gave him a proper training before I returned him."

Oh no. "I hope you weren't as hard on him as you are your pokemon?" I hoped over the years he had learned to be more lenient with his training.

"Harder actually."

"Shinji!" Oh no my poor Piplup! He was probably going to be scarred for life after a day of Shinjis training. What had I done?!

While I was having a panic attack, Shinji just smirked. What the hell?! Why was he smirking? I could feel my face heating up in anger and I was about to tell him off for tormenting my pokemon by exposing him to his unethical training methods, but he cut me off.

"He handled himself well. For a first stage runt, he's not completely terrible at battling." Did Shinji just compliment Piplup?

"I… um… thank you?"

"Pip!" I jumped in surprise, I completely forgot I had left Piplup out and he was now standing in front of me looking at Shinji with a proud look.

"Have you been training?" I just stood there dumbfounded. Shinji Aguri was having a conversation with my pokemon who, on numerous occasions, he had dubbed weak and pathetic.

"Luup."

"Good. Don't lose the tiniest bit of respect I have gained for you."

"Piplup!" My tiny blue pokemon ran a few yards away and stood with a determined face. With a cry of his name, his body began to glow a faint blue. The ground began to tremble and the temperature dropped drastically. The top of the ocean nearest the boat began to ice over and snow began to fall.

Confused wasn't a strong enough word to explain what I was feeling but Shinji just watched expectantly. With a jump and a body slam the ground opened up and a snow covered wall of ice appeared. Piplup cried out again and before either of us had time to react, giant chunks of ice and frozen snow began to crumble and fall, covering the entire area.

I breathed out in awe. I had no idea what that move was or where Piplup had learned it. I looked at Shinji who nodded at Piplup in approval. "Not bad for your first time using the move."

"Move? What move?" I finally figured out how to talk again and asked the obvious. Or at least, it felt like it should be obvious by the lookShinji was giving me. Instead of answering me though, he just looked back at Piplup. What an ass.

"You'll need more training in order to properly utilize it."

"What move?" I was once again ignored and I was getting mad. Not only was Shinji ignoring me, it seemed Piplup was too because he didn't even look in my direction.

"Do you remember what we discussed?"

"Pip!"

"Then I expect you to keep your word. Master this move and I will teach you another."

"Shinji, what are you two talking about?!" I yelled. He finally decided to pay attention to me and said in a very calm manner.

"That move was avalanche." That came as a shock to me. I had heard of the move, but had never even thought of trying to teach it to him. I actually didn't even know Piplup could learn it.

"Avalanche? But, where did he learn it? Did you teach him?"

"No. It can only be taught via T.M disc." He said matter of factly. But I didn't have any T.M discs, so where did Piplup get it?

"But I haven't… wait! Nurse Joi mentioned something about a T.M. Do you think he won it back in other pokemon center?"

"No." His blunt reply made my eyebrow twitch in realization. HE gave Piplup a very rare and very expensive T.M disc.

"Then, you must've given it to him. But… why?"

"I had no use for it and your Piplup can't protect you adequately without a stronger move set." Instead of focusing on the fact that he was worried about my well being, I instead chose to focus on the critical undertone of his statement.

"His move set is plenty strong! I'll have you know Piplup knows ten moves!" I crossed my arms across my chest triumphantly as I made my point.

"Eleven." He said with a smirk and raised brow. Arceus that smirk! Why did he keep doing that! It was so annoyingly hot and… wait, what the hell?! Ugh, he was driving me insane!

XxX

"What?" Her voice was squeaky and her face was red. I didn't know why I enjoyed getting her angry, but it was fun. Her reactions were cute, although I'd never tell her that.

"Now he knows eleven moves." Seeing the hurt look in her eyes made me confused. I figured she'd be angry with me for insulting her pokemon moves but it seemed to hurt her feelings and make her sad instead. That weird indigestion feeling came back and I cursed the spicy ketchup I used on his mornings omurice. Shaking it off I tried to place a new unfamiliar emotion.

"Look, his moves aren't bad. I'm actually surprised a first stage pokemon can learn that many moves." For some reason I felt like I should make her feel better and I guess what I said worked because her smile was right back on her face the minute I finished speaking.

"It was hard. But with a lot of work and a few move slots we pulled it off." She had a far away look in her eyes that I couldn't help but stare at.

"Hn. Surf, aurabeam, and freeze dry are it's strongest moves. With some training, avalanche could easily top those." I hoped she would understand what I was trying to say without getting mad.

"But, I've only ever heard of the move. I know nothing about it." Much to her surprise,I handed her a small instruction booklet. It was small enough to fit in her pocket but thick enough to contain a plethora of information. Hikari eyed the book and looked back at me with wide eyes.

"It came in the box with the T.M disc. It contains everything you need to know about the move. If you and him can master that move I will teach him another strong move."

"But, why do I need these moves?"

"He's your partner correct?" She nodded. "He is usually out of his pokeball when you trblush.When you're not in an official battle or being attacked, your pokemon can pull from any of those moves."

"I still don't get it.. Arceus this woman could be dumb sometimes. Did she really need me to spell it out for her?!

"Arceus woman! You're an attractive and vulnerable seventeen years old girl who is traveling alone with a seemingly weak pokemon. You are a perfect target for perverts and thieves. What they don't know is how strong your pokemon is, and the stronger moves he has hidden away the safer you'll be."

"That… makes sense." She looked away trying to hide her blush. Shit! I called her attractive, Mew I hope she didn't catch that.

"Then, I guess we'll have to train our hardest to master this move then." Her voice was quiet but determined and I started thinking about what T.M to buy the little pest next.

"Hn." We were walking in comfortable silence when it was shattered by an obnoxious yelling.

"Yo Shinji! You didn't tell me this beauty was a friend of yours!" I forgot this jackass was still following me. Had he been watching us talk this whole time? There was something seriously wrong with this playboy.

"What do you want?" I said with fire in my eyes. I did NOT want him stalking Hikari too.

"Hahaha. This guy, always crackin jokes. So…" the tension in the air was thick, this guy seemed to be waiting for an introduction and Hikari was unsure about speaking. So she waited, figuring it would be best to let me control the situation I assumed.

"Go away." I said again with more force. This guy just couldn't take a hint and I felt physically ill by the way he was eyeing the bluenette cowering behind me.

"Whatever man." He turned to Hikari who was very obviously uncomfortable and stuck his hand out. "I'm Toka Inu from Kazan island!"

"H-hikari Aoki." She hesitantly grasped his hand for a friendly shake but he had other plans. He yanked her arm and pulled her into a tight hug, his hands much lower on her back than was appropriate. She was visibly scared and I finally let my anger take over.

I stepped forward, peeling Tokas dark arms from Hikaris waist and pulled her behind me so that my body was shielding hers. "You've met her, now leave." I said with so much venom I could feel her shudder behind me.

"Whatever man. I'm done here anyway. Mr Auni said he's ready to go so you two better hurry up or he'll leave without you." With a halfhearted wave Toka walked off leaving Hikari and me alone.

"What a creep. How do you even know that guy?" I could hear tge relief in her voice and noticed she was clutching my jacket like a lifeline.

"I don't. He challenged me to a battle then stalked me the rest of the way here." I grabbed her hands in mine and she relaxed and let go of my jacket. I let go of her hands and we started walking back to the boat where Piplup and Mr Auni were waiting.

"He was such a perv. Did you see him try to cop a feel! I feel so… gross." She had absolutely no idea how disgusted I was at his actions and talking about it just pissed me off so I changed the subject, not so subitally.

"We should get on the boat."

She seemed to understand my unwillingness to talk about the playboy. Thankfully. "Right. Hey Shinji?"

"What?"

"You seem to be coming to my rescue a lot lately." She wasn't wrong. First with that Kengo perv, then with her pokemon, then again with the playboy. Mew she was going to be the death of me.

"That's simply because trouble seems to follow you." I said with a smirk. She started blushing again and slapped me playfully on my arm.

"Yeah, I know. But still… thank you Shinji." I didn't tell her she was welcome because she didn't need to thank me.

"Come on troublesome girl."

XxX

Eeeek!!! Fangirling over here! I had to include some ikarishipping fluff for shits and giggles. Lol. At least we know Hikari is on the same page as Shinji when it comes to Toka. Looks like this won't be a love rival after all. Until next time monsters!!!


	12. Chapter 10

Hey monsters! Here's the next chapter!!! So this one wound up being a little extra long. I hope it doesn't sound like I'm rambling.

This chapter is entirely in Hikaris POV too. Not sure how that happened but whatever lol.

Anyway ... Enough talk, onto the story!!!

Note, I'm well aware this is the Fairy Tail theme song, but I love it and the tempo sets the mood perfectly. Plus this girls cover is amazeballs!

XxX

The ride so far had been smooth. The sun was shining brightly and the sea was calm. Soft waves crashed along the front of the boat and I noted several beautiful pokemon I had never seen before.

They were a turquoise color with what looked like yellow stars along its back. It had a pointed beak like thing instead of a mouth and had a hole on the top of its head for breathing. It's thick tail thinned out and split into two see through fins.

It was a nice sight. I was going to pull out my pokedex and scan the pokemon but I heard Mr Auni join me on the deck. He had been locked up steering the boat up until now so I walked over to him to have a friendly conversation.

"So, how are you two enjoying Afini so far?" He asked with a hearty chuckle. His greying beard wiggled in the wind as he spoke.

"We just landed yesterday so we haven't really seen anything yet." I answered truthfully. "I do like how freakishly cheap pork, beef, chicken, and seafood are here. In Sinnoh, meat is a rare find usually saved for parties and celebrations."

"Ah yes here we have been blessed with amazing agricultural advances." He said with a wide grin. " Many of our islands lands are used for farming. Afini is the world's number one exporter of meats so its not surprising that our prices are impressive to you." I could hear the pride in his voice when he spoke about the region.

He was right though. Afini was the number one exporter in the world so I knew I needed to take advantage of the sales as much as I could. "I'm definitely going to be stocking up on dehydrated meats every chance I get."

"You should send some back home." I hadn't even thought of that, but he was right. I could send tons of meats through DelibirdExpress and have my mom put them up for me. If they were dehydrated they would store for years and I could use them to cook at home or on future travels.

"I might just do that." He seemed pleased with my answer and nodded his head before changing the subject.

"So are you here for the trials or the bazaars?" I noticed Shinji had walked over to us to listen. I guess he wanted to hear about the trials from a local.

"Both. Shinji here is a very skilled trainer. Afini is one of his final regions to travel before he heads back home and takes the champion title. I'll be doing bazaars because Yuko-sama asked me too."

"Well aren't you confident in his ability? And to be invited by the president herself is a big deal, you must be very talented."

"Of course I'm confident in Shinjis skills! He is an amazing trainer who trains just as hard as his pokemon do. He has their respect and they have his and together, they're the strongest thing I've ever seen, and I've seen legendaries in person. There's not a doubt in my mind that when he challenges Shirona he'll win."

The playful look on Auni's face made me realize quickly that I had given him the wrong impression. My face burned a bright cherry red and I ducked my head in embarrassment.

"Well, he's lucky to have a friend like you to cheer him on." He said patting my head as if I were still ten. He really had it all wrong.

"I'm sure he'd think different." I mumbled, I didn't dare look over at Shinji who was just watching us. I was sure he was looking at me with some form of irritation and I just didn't feel like feeling worse.

"Who knows." Auni continued completely ignoring what I had just said. " So any idea which challenge you'll choose first?"

This seemed to catch Shinjis interest because he finally decided to join the conversation instead of lingering like some creep. "I didn't know you could choose?"

"Yes you can. There's three trial options on Msitu." Auni said with a loud laugh. He sounded like Santa when he laughed which amused me. Shinji and I looked at him and waited before he finally stopped laughing and started to explain how the Msitu island trails worked.

" The first is in Iko City and it's a Pokemon catching contest. The second is in Jua Town and its, well, it's kind of like those contests over in Sinnoh. The last one is in Wakulima Village. It's kind of like a scavenger hunt but you also have to use the items you collect to create medicine for injured pokemon. But for the one in Wakulima, you'll need a partner."

Shinji seemed impressed and I was too. I hadn't realized there were options in this league. Normally you go to a set amount of designated areas for battle in order to advance. Choosing your own path was unheard of, this league was really something else. "Hmmm, that's really neat. I think the ones in Iko and Wakulima sound interesting."

Shinji scoffed at me, much to my irritation. "I'm surprised you don't want to do one of those stupid contests." My eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

"They're not stupid Shinji. And no I don't want to do one." I could feel my anger rising so I stopped and took a breath. He had no idea how I was feeling and it was unfair of me to get mad at him for something he didn't understand. Calmly I explained why I wouldn't be doing the contest trial. " I mean, yeah it would be cool but I came to Afini to learn new things and become a stronger trainer, not to come out of retirement."

Thankfully, Shinji seemed to accept that explanation because he didn't criticize me further. Instead Auni did.

"Retirement? Oh-ho you're much too young for that, you should do everything you can to learn about the craft you love." I don't think he meant to sound as condescending as he did but that didn't make it hurt any less. If there was one thing I couldn't stand, it was the fact that though elders deserve our respect no matter what they say. Sometimes, like right then, our elders can be wrong. They speak out of ignorance on a topic and instead of correcting them, you just have to smile and nod, pretending to absorb their 'wisdom'.

I was trying to figure out how to politely tell Auni to shut it but Shinji beat me to the punch. "She mastered coordination four years ago. She chose to bow out while she was on top. I don't see an issue with it."

I was shocked to hear him say that. He actually acknowledged that I was a master coordinator. Then I realized how rude he sounded and I worried how Auni, the man who was giving us a FREE and PRIVATE boat ride, would react.

Instead of getting mad like elders back in Sinnoh would, he seemed to ponder Shinjis words before apologizing. "I meant no offense."

"Hn." Shinji seemed satisfied and I was stunned. I had never had an elder apologize for being wrong before. Auni seemed to brush the whole event off because he turned the conversation back to the previous topic. This time addressing Shinji.

"So which trials will you choose?"

"Iko and Wakulima." He answered with a shrug.

"And am I correct in assuming you two will be participating together?" Annnnd I was confused again. Why would we participate together? That made no sense. Were there tag team battles or something?

"What on earth would make you assume that?!" Shinji seemed pissed, as to be expected. Regardless of how nice as he was being to me lately, he was still a jerk to other people. One thing I knew was no matter how nice Shinji acted, he still didn't find me a respectable trainer and would never want to partner with me on anything.

"You don't want to do the trial in Wakulima together?" I asked innocently already knowing the answer. I just wanted to piss him off some more. He simply glared at me. Sighing and rubbing my temples in annoyance, I explained what should've been obvious to him. "I mean, if you don't want to that's fine, I just figured you'd rather do it with me instead of having to meet some new trainer who may not be a very good trainer and asking them to help you."

"I don't need any help." Arceus he was stubborn. As much as he denied it, he was EXACTLY like Satoshi when it came to his mood swings. One minute he could be nice and the next he's ready to rip your throat out, and then he's throwing a tantrum like a child. How appalling. He wasn't wrong though, he probably didn't need my help.

"That you're probably right about, but you can't do the trial alone if it's against the rules."

As if feeling the tension rising, Auni came to my defense before he started walking back towards the cabin to turn the ship. "She's right. So if you don't want to work with her then you'll have to do the contest trial instead. I'm sure I could ask Toka to participate with you Hikari."

"I'm not doing a contest and that playboy isn't going anywhere with Hikari." Shinji was very angry and it was directed at Auni. I couldn't figure out why he was so insistent on me staying away from Toka, not that I cared… the guy creeped me out. But I figured if he REALLY didn't want anything happening to me then I should test that theory. "Then you'll do the trial with me?" I asked hopefully this time.

"Fine." I couldnt help but gasp slightly at how soft his eyes looked when he finally gave in. He looked so… cute! " We'll head to Wakulima when we land and once the trial is over we can go our separate ways." Annnnd the cuteness was gone.

"Seems fair enough." I sighed in defeat. I don't know what I was expecting but at least he agreed to let me go with him. Temporarily at least.

"So you two aren't traveling together?" Auni was talking to us now from his captains chair. He had rolled the top down and we could now see into what had once been a closed room.

"No. Shinji and I just know each other from years ago and just happened to be in Afini at the same time." He seemed to think about that and decided he should try again to push Toka on me. What was it with this guy and Toka?

"Well then, I'll have to call my friend Shawna and have her son Toka join you."

"Uh, I don't think that'll be-" I tried telling him if rather jump off a cliff than travel with that, as Shinji puts it, playboy, but Auni interrupted me.

"It's not safe for a young woman like yourself to wander alone."

"But-" I tried again and started fuming when I was AGAIN interrupted.

"You could get hurt or kidnapped or assaulted or-" he was really starting to annoy me and I could feel myself about to say something as rude as Shinji but my voice was shadowed by Shinjis deep voice.

"Would you shut up?!" Both Auni and myself looked at him in shock. I had NEVER seen anyone dare speak to an elder that way before. Especially one that was helping them.

"Excuse me?" Auni asked in a mock offended tone.

"She doesn't need that playboy following her around when her pokemon are more than capable of protecting her."

"Is that so?" He gave Shinji a knowing look like the one he gave me earlier. Ugh. "Well I still don't think it's a good idea."

"Then it's a good thing she didn't ask you what you thought about it." I gasped. I mean, he was right, but still.

"Shinji!" He gave me a look and I knew what was coming. "Tell me I'm wrong Hikari."

"Well…" I couldn't tell him that but I didn't want to sound rude either.

"Exactly. Now go get your stuff. We're fixing to dock aren't we Auni?" He turned away from me and I just sulked. I walked over to where my bag sat with my egg and Piplup tucked safely inside.

"Erm, yeah we are." Auni seemed confused about our interaction but thankfully he wasn't mad. "I really didn't mean to offend."

"It's fine. But don't ever underestimate Hikari or her ability to keep herself safe. Nothing is going to happen to her." Neither me not Auni expected that response but he simply smiled at him while I just clammed up. What was with him?!

"How can you be so sure?" Auni's voice had a teasing tone to it causing Shinji to growl.

"Because I won't let it." He mumbled but I heard. What the actual hell was going on?! I mean, I knew years had passed but I was so confused as to what was making him say those things.

"But you're not traveling together?" Auni said with an amused smirk of his own.

"I don't need to be with her to keep her safe. Like I said, her pokemon is more than capable of that." They were talking like I wasn't even there. I mean, yeah what shinji was saying was making me feel all gooey inside but still. Did they have any idea how annoying it is to be ignored like that?!

"Hm. It seems you care a lot about this girl."

Auni was definitely wrong there.

"Pfft. Yeah right." Shinji said confirming my suspicions.

"You sure about that?" Auni was just teasing him now. Shinji looked like he was getting annoyed and I worried about another blow up.

"She's my brothers friend." He answered matter-of-factly. I wouldnt lie, I was starting to think he cared about me at keast a little bit. Hearing him say he was only protecting me because I was friends with Renji hurt more than I thought it would. " If I let something happen to her he'd be pissed."

Auni noticed the dejected look on my face and didn't press further. The three of us fell into an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes before we were finally within view of the island."I guess we're here then."

"Oh wow!" I was in awe. There were giant mountains covered in variously colored trees and giant flowers. I had never seen anything like it. "It's so… green!"

"Yes ma'am. This island is covered in jungles." That explained it. I had never been in a jungle before. Only forests woods and deserts.

"It's so pretty!" I said with a sigh.

"That it is." He chuckled. He then turned to Shinji with a very serious face." So you two will want to head east and you should make it in about a weeks walk."

I quickly ran over to Mr Auni's side and gave him a bow of respect. "Thank you so much for the ride Mr Auni!"

Thankfully Shinji seemed to have manners after all because he also bowed before grunting out a rough thanks."Hn. Thank you."

"Sorry we got so worked up." I decided to take a second to make sure everything was okay between them. We may have needed mr Auni's help again in the future and I didn't want Shinji's outburst to effect that. "Shinji is just a little overprotective and independent."

"No apologies needed missy. I understand why he got so upset." A knowing smile crossed his face as he waved us off. "Now you kids be safe!"

We waved goodbye and jumped the four feet from the boat deck to the dock. Mr Auni's boat didn't have a ramp because he never stayed in one place very long and hardly ever had passengers.

"What a nice man." We had started walking east as instructed and Shinji was back to his silent, stuffy attitude I was used to.

"More like intrusive." The tone of voice he was using really bothered me. Why did he have to be so fucking rude all the time?!

"You didn't have to be so mean." I muttered not expecting him to hear. Unfortunately he did hear me and apparently I made him feel bad because he looked at me like I had just slapped him.

"Was anything I said untrue?" I stumbled a bit at his voice. He was speaking so softly that it was almost a whisper. He wasn't looking at me like he usually would, but instead was sneaking glances from the corner of his eye like he was afraid of my answer. Was he afraid? Did he want me to agree with him?I did NOT understand what was going on.

"Well no, but you still can't be so blunt all the time." I spoke just as softly hoping to keep the conversation calm but I guess he found it condescending because all traces of softness were gone in less than a second.

"Whatever."

My stupid freaking eyebrow was twitching again. But this time it was visibly noticeable. He was really getting under my skin, and not in a good way. Why did everything have to be an argument with him?! "Arceus you're impossible!"

"And yet you want my help." he has a smug grin. Damn that grin, but at least it was better than him yelling or sounding sad. The cockiness in his voice was still annoying though.

"I don't want your help. I just don't feel like asking someone I don't know." I mumbled. I didn't like where this conversation was headed.

"Pfft. Since when don't you want to make friends with everyone in the world?" He looked at me expectantly but his annoyance immediately disappointed. I couldn't help it. I started thinking about conversations I had with some of my past friends and my eyes started watering up. "H-hey, stop crying."

"I stopped wanting to make friends when the people I thought cared about me abandoned me." I could hear the hatred in my voice that I had been holding in for years. I wasn't ready to talk about it but if anyone could understand my unwillingness to be around New people, it was Shinji.

I used my sleeve to wipe my eyes and I looked forward with a hardened expression. From the corner of my eye I could see Shinji looking at me quizzically but I chose to ignore it, hoping he would drop the subject. He seemed to get the hint because for the next four hours we walked away from the setting son and deeper into the jungle.

**XxX**

Yay!! We finally made it to Msitu!!! So what did you think of the unnamed water pokemon? What animal or fish do you picture when you read it?

Interactive question time!!!

1.) Who should capture a Pokemon on Msitu first, Hikari or Shinji?

2.) New eeveeloution vote #2, it is now narrowed down to two types and I can't choose! So we're gonna try again across the board and see what happens this time. Your choices are

A) Ghost

B) Flying

3.) Who would you rather a confrentation between next (there are lots to come)

A) Kengo

B) Toka

C) New character

Alright, that's it for this chapter. Let me know if it was too... Blah. Im honestly not really feeling this chapter myself but I couldnt think of any other way to include Mr Auni. He's going to be returning later on so it's important you know who he is lol. Check illustration page 2 or 3 for Mr Auni's image!!!Anyway, until next time monsters!!!


	13. CHAPTER 11

Check out the new OFFICIAL ILLUSTRATION INSTAGRAM for all of my fanfiction accounts!

ALL ILLUSTRATIONS FOR THIS BOOK AND MY OTHER BOOKS WILL BE POSTED THERE ALONG WITH SNEAK PEEKS!

http/_onee_sama_4/

Hey monsters Oneesama here with chapter 11! Sooo first and foremost I have an announcement! I have met an awesome person on amino who has graciously been helping me design the pokemon for this region!

PPhoto by me

He goes by Deoxys on amino and he has an Instagram that you should definitely check out! (@ PatchWorkPup)

Second announcement, I have deleted the illustration chapters. I have decided to make an entire instagram for my illustrations (Mainly because there are so far over 80)

I will however include one picture of each OC as they are introduced. Sane with fakemon. I'll be going back this week and adding images to chapters, so be looking out for updated chapters!!!

Also, sorry for the short chapter. The next three or so will probably be about this long (1.5k) which is short compared to my usual 2-3k so, sorry about that.

Now then, enough chit chat, onto the story!!!

XxX

Two insufferable days had gone by and we had covered a lot of ground. According to Auni, it would take us seven days to get there but, if we were to continue at this pace we would get there in two or three days. It was nearly sundown and we would need to set up camp soon. But honestly as long as Hikari wasn't complaining, I didn't mind walking longer. She seemed to 've lost in thought for a while before she finally spoke up for the first time since breakfast.

"So... shinji" Oh how I had hoped we could go the entire day without her bothering me. Yeah right.

"What?" I saw her flinch at my voice and wondered if I really sounded that intimidating.

"So, I was wondering..." she trailed off like she didn't know what to say. She started playing with the hem of her pale purple tank top out of nervousness I guessed. "Um, since you gave Piplup that move and all..." she still wasn't looking at me and her tearing up her shirt bottom was starting to bother me.

"Spit it out!" I had planned on being nicer to her but Arceus she made it hard. She acted like I was a rabid houndoom and it made me mad.

"Geez no need to be so mean." She spat. Much better. An angry Hikari I can deal with, a scared one... not so much." Anyway, I was wondering how I could use it in battle? It seems like the move takes a while."

At least if she insisted on talking, at least it was about something worth talking about. Obviously I knew she was at least a halfway decent trainer, based on Piplups performance. I really didn't mind giving her information if it meant she'd be less of a burden. The more she could protect herself the less I would have to look out for her.

"You use it against dragon, fighting, steel, and rock the way you would use Surf against fire or Rock." I explained simply. Avalanche was basically a frozen surf so it could be used the same way.

"But it's so much slower than Surf." That was true. I was surprised the runt could even learn the move so it didn't shock me that it took him a while to use it.

"That's what training is for. You need to boost his speed. You should know this, it's basic trainer knowledge." It was true. Common sense would tell you that when you learn something new, you have to practice it before it's perfect.

"Well we don't really focus on ice moves." What a stupid thing to do. Yes her pokemon was technically a water type, but it was supposed to gain an ice secondary typing when it evolved, so it has the ability to learn ice moves. Why would she ignore that advantage?

"That's a stupid idea."

"Hey!" She stopped walking abruptly and slammed her fists into her side's. She was glaring at me and my stomach started hurting. Damn indigestion. I hadn't even eaten anything spicy, maybe I needed to see a doctor. But for now, I needed to deal with the moron in front of me.

"It is. You act like you don't even know how to train your pokemon. How pathetic." I cringed at my own words. I didn't mean she was pathetic... I meant her choices were. But she didn't take it that way because I could see the hurt in her eyes. Damnit.

"You know what shinji?" She turned away from me before she finished talking. That's when I noticed her shoulders were shaking. I could hear her sniffing and was going to try to apologize but she didn't need it. " You're an asshole!"

"Meh, I've been called worse." It was true. Usually people called me a bastard, asshole wasn't that bad.

"Wow." She gave me a look like I had just snapped her pokemons beak off.

"You're the one who wanted to talk.. Honestly, what did she expect? I'm not exactly known for my people skills.

"I thought maybe you'd tell me something useful!" What was she going on about? I already told her what the move was and what types it was useful against. What else was I supposed to tell her?

"Like what?" I didn't mean to yell but oh well. She seemed to realize How infuriating she was being based on the look on her face But I kept yelling anyway. " How to battle instead of showing off? You've wasted too many years to try and catch up now."

Shit! Her eyes got huge and watery and I knew she took what I said wrong. I started panicking in my mind trying to think of a way to explain but before I had a chance to say anything she started crying silently. With a hiccup in her voice she asked me in the most furious tone I'd ever heard from her. The scary part was, she wasn't yelling. Her voice was deadly calm and menacing.

"What's hic that's sup-hic-posed to mean?"

"It means, " I spoke slowly and deliberately, choosing each word carefully. I didnt want her thinking I thought she was weak because she was sick, even if I did. I needed her to calm down before this turned into a screaming match. "You're a coordinator, not a trainer. You're kidding yourself if you think you have a chance at these trials."

I didn't mean to sound so harsh but oh well, she needed to hear it before she humiliated herself trying. "Then why am I traveling with you?!"

She wasn't speaking clearly anymore. She was openly crying and yelling and for some unknown reason my indigestion came back. I ignored and stared at her with a blank face. I felt physically sick watching her cry and I didnt want her to know that. But the truth was, I had no idea why she wanted to travel with me. So that's what I said.

"Couldn't tell you." I guess it wasn't the right answer because she started crying harder.

"You... you're impossible!" She cried out and her voice started to crack. I felt my own eyes moisten much to my confusion so I turned my back to her. She needed to shut up already so I could try to figure out just why the hell my chest felt tight, why my damn stomach hurt, and why the fuck my eyes were watery. I didn't have time for her drama!

"And you're annoying." She stopped everything and stared at me blankly for a minute. It looked like her brain had just shut off. But then without warning a range of emotions from sadness to hurt to confused until finally landing on fury. "Ughh!!!"

Hikari stormed off but not so far that I lost sight of her. She huffed and puffed until she was around a hundred feet in front of me before she finally slowed down and started walking normally again. I figured she just needed time to cool off so I didn't say anything and stayed behind her, giving her space.

I looked down, trying to think of battle strategies for unknown grass types when I heard a high pitched scream. Jerking my head up I saw Hikari was nowhere to be found and my heart began to race. Where was she? I heard another noise that sounded like Piplup so I ran in that direction. My hand was clutching Torterras pokeball and sweat dripped from my brow.

I shouldn't have yelled at her. If I wouldn't have done that she wouldn't have run off and she wouldn't be... shit! I was running as fast as I could and I stumbled over an upturned root. Tumbling to the ground I jumped up quickly and my eyes widened at the sight before me.

I found Hikari and Piplup, but they weren't alone.

XxX

Interactive question...

Hikari is going to catch a pokemon in three ir so chapters and I'm looking to set the tone of the chapter based on the battle so...

You guys chose monkey for her first pokemon.. The question is, should it be something big and scary or something small and cute? Let me know so I can finish up this little arc buildup (4 chapters) and get them published by Friday.


	14. CHAPTER 12

Hey monsters! Im back!!! So fair warning, this chapter is only around 1k words. The next chapter is also short so ...

Since I'm putting out 3 chapters at less than 2k words, my plan is to write a 4th chapter with 3k words. I'll have this week's third chapter posted tomorrow and HOPEFULLY have the fourth published by Tuesday.

So anyway... Here's the answer to last nights cliffhanger!

XxX

You know what's annoying? Angry crying. It's just the worst. You can be so absolutely furious that you're shaking and it's just like, your body doesn't have any other way to let it out and your eyes just start leaking. And it can never be just that, nooo. No instead your throat has to get tight and your chest gets heavy. It gets hard to breathe and eventually you find yourself sobbing like the world is ending.

It's a horrible feeling and it happened to me way too often with Shinji. He just had this way of making me feel… everything! He's probably furious with me. He probably regrets letting me come. Maybe I should apologize? Ugh! I don't even know why I care so much about what he thinks but here I am. Freaking out like a hormonal wreck!

I stormed off not because I wanted to leave him, but because i needed to calm down. It was getting embarrassing for both of us. I wasn't too far away from him but I was far enough that I heard the sound of breaking twigs and Shinji didn't.

I looked back and saw he was looking at the ground so I followed the noise off the path with Piplups pokeball firmly in my hand. It only took a few seconds for me to find the source if the noise.

Sitting in the tree was the cutest pokemin I had ever seen. It had a long tail that was brightly colored pink and resembled tropical flowers. It had grayish purple fur and a pink flower on the top of its head. It held a berry in its human like hands and its giant eyes were fixed on me.

I squealed in excitement causing the creature to flinch. I quickly grabbed my pokedex but I couldn't find any info on the pokemon. Going against my better judgment I tossed up Piplups pokeball and prepared for battle.

"Piiiip!"

Before we had a chance to try and capture the monkey like pokemon, Shinji came running from the trail screaming his head off. "What the hell? I heard you screaming!"

I just shook my head and pointed to the tree where a now very curious pokemon was watching us interact. "Isn't it adorable?! My pokedex isn't pulling anything up." Sighing he pulled out his dark blue pokedex and scanned the still eating pokemon.

Lemflur the lemur pokemon. The flowers on its body collect sunlight to store energy. Don't let it's cute looks fool you, when angered, this pokemon becomes uncontrollably vicious.

"Well?" He closed his pokedex and put it back in his pocket before looking back at me expectedly.

"What?"

"Are you going to catch it?" Oh yeah, I had almost forgotten I wanted to catch it and I could see him sweatdrop. I just giggled and turned back to the lemflur with a determined look.

"Okay, you ready Lemflur? I'm gonna catch you!" The violet pokemon jumped from its branch tossing a half eaten berry aside. With a nod it waited for me to start. "Um, Piplup, use ice beam!"

"Piiiip!" With a cry of his name he opened his beak and shot out a glowing beam of blue and white light. It hit the ground in front of Lemflur making it stumble and fall on its face.

Piplup landed gracefully in front of me, only to be hit with a nasty bullet seed attack. "Shake it off Piplup and use bubble beam!"

"Lup!" He nodded in understanding and jumped back to his feet. With his chest puffed in pride he opened his beak and sent a barrage of scalding hot bubbles. They hit their target and caused the monkey to be stunned from the unexpected heat of the water. I took the opportunity to try for a capture and grabbed an empty ball from my belt.

"Pokeball go!"

The baseball sized capsule flew through the sky and landed square on the pokemon head. A bright red light engulfed Lemflur and it disappeared into the red and white ball. It snapped shut and fell to the floor. It began to shake. Once, twice, three times until I finally heard the ding that signaled a clean capture. "Alright! I did it!"

I was about to celebrate my first capture in Afini when Shinji snatched the pokeball out of my hand. "Give me that!"

"Hey!" I yelled in protest. He simply rolled his eyes and pulled out his pokedex. He scanned the ball and pushed a button so the machine would speak out loud.

Lemflur level fifteen. Move set… solar beam, petal dance, energy ball, bullet seed. Ability: Water Bubble, Lowers the power of Fire-type moves done to the pokémon and prevents the pokémon from getting a burn.

"Hn." He tossed the ball back to me with a nod of approval. "It's a decent capture."

I wanted to be mad but I was too tired. So I settled on confused. Had I actually managed to capture a pokemon living up to Shinjis rediculious standards? "Um, thank you?"

"It's late. We should set up camp." I guess he wasn't gonna mention my meltdown earlier, which was fine by me. I smiled and nodded before returning piplup and following him to a clearing.

"O-ok. If you could get firewood and I can do the rest!" I was already pulling out the tent and getting ready to set it up. "Are we setting up camp here?"

"Obviously." And there was the asshole I was used to dealing with.

"Ugh. Fine. Go get some firewood and come back later when you're done being rude." He tossed his bag on the ground and left walking into the jungle. I knew he would be back so I set my sites on setting up camp. Maybe I could cook again? That always seemed to make him happy. Coming to a decision I rushed to set up the tent and started pulling out cooking items.

I still owed him a thank you after all.


	15. CHAPTER 13

Hey monsters! I'm back with a longer chapter (finally lol) it's about 3k words. So this chapter was supposed to be serious but it wound up being three thousand words of ikarishipping semi fluff lol! I really hope you guys enjoy it. There's a big twist coming up soon (either next chapter or in two chapters depending on your votes!) Be sure to vote in the interactive question at the bottom because it's important!

So this chapter is dedicated to my newest follower neznama71 ! I hope you enjoy my stories and i look forward to reading your comments!

Now that, that's out of the way... Let's get started! Onto the story!

XxX

It had been a tough morning. From the moment I woke up I knew today would be bad. It started at around seven. I woke up with a jolt in pain. My entire body felt like it was being stabbed by thousands of burning hot needles. My legs felt restless, like I needed to go running, and my stomach was doing somersaults.

I looked to the other side of tge tent and saw that Shinji was already up and walking around so I let my guard down. Pulling myself from the sleeping bag, I grabbed my backpack and walked out of the tent in discomfort. I didn't bother changing, so I was still wearing a pair of very short spandex shorts and an oversized grey tee shirt with dark grey ankle socks. I shivered when the morning air hit my legs and I realized it was still dark outside.

I was confused, so I looked around and noticed it was cloudy. The sky was filled with dark grey fluffy clouds and I knew rain was coming. I should've figured with the way I woke up. My bones were screaming in discomfort.

I debated changing again but opted to just toss on my boots. I went to a bush covered area to use the restroom and brush my teeth. After that, I pulled out piplups pokeball and had him help me wash my hair. I didn't bother with styling it and instead tossed it in a very messy bun.

I returned Piplup with a thanks and walked back to camp only to find Shinji had already packed up. "You're not going to change?"

"I'm comfortable. I wish I had a sweater though." I did have long sleeved shirts, but today was one of those days I wanted an oversized sweat shirt to cuddle up in.

Shinji dug in his bag for a moment before he handed me a dark navy blue hoodie. I looked at it then at him and smiled. Slipping on the sweater, I sighed inwardly. It smelled amazing! Like campfires and marshmallows and a hint of earth. It was calming and comforting at the same time.

I was wondering why Shinji gave me his hoodie but I didn't ask. I didn't want to ruin the moment. I did however turn away from him once we started walking. I was trying to hide my blushing cheeks from him. Why was I blushing? Shinji freaking Aguri just let me wear his favorite hoodie, that's why! The most hardcore trainer in Sinnoh who was known for hating everyone, was taking care of me. Who wouldn't blush?!

We kept walking in silence for a few hours and I began to regret my decision to not put on pants. Shinjis sweater was longer than my shorts, hanging almost to my knees I was savoring the warmth when it happened.

"You look terrible." Shinji pointed out as I unconsciously began walking slower. Everything was spinning and I suddenly felt really hot and dizzy.

"Thanks." I breathed out as sarcastically as I could manage. Shinji looked at me in what I thought was concern, and I knew I must have developed a fever. Shit.

"I'm serious." I tried to argue. But my voice sounded pitiful, almost like a whine. "I'm fine."

I was going to make my point by stomping ahead but that plan flew right out the window when I tripped on absolutely nothing and fell face forward. I closed my eyes and waited for the painful impact that never came. Instead I felt two muscular arms wrapped around my waist.

Before I could say thank you the unthinkable happened. My stomach lurched, my chest began to burn and my eyes started watering. I barely managed to gasp out a plea and Shinji put me down. The second my knees hit the ground I started puking my brains out.

I was in so much pain. Each heave made the muscles in my chest stretch so far that I thought I would die. I tried to cover my face but I only succeeded in gagging and almost passing out. When it was finally over, I started to cry uncontrollably. I was so embarrassed.

"You're obviously not fine." Shinji said. He didn't sound angry at all, but instead sounded guilty. Why? He didn't do anything. He handed me a wet wipe and my toothbrush. I guess he went in my bag. I smiled weakly and began to clean myself up. He grabbed Piplups pokeball and explained what happened. Piplup used his water to clean up my mess before he came to help me clean up.

I was still embarrassed but Shinji was actually making me feel better by not saying anything at all. Well, he decided he was going to boss me around but if I were being honest, I didn't really mind.

"You're not ok." I knew that, but I didn't want to slow him down. I knew he wanted to hurry up and be rid of me and I didn't want my stupid body getting in his way. He didn't deserve to carry a burden like me around. I tried to explain that I could make it, that he didn't need to worry about me, but he didn't let me.

"But-"

"Shut up. You're sick and clearly in no condition to travel today. We're setting up camp until the storm clears." I could see the look in his eyes and didn't argue further. Well, I didn't argue about stopping anyway. Truthfully I felt as bad as I looked. My body felt like I had been hit by a train.

"There's no where to set up our tent." He sighed and looked back from where we had already walked.

"There's a cave about thirty yards back. We can spend the night there." He walked over to me and shook his head. I must've looked pathetic sitting there on the ground with messy hair and a puffy red face. I squealed in surprise when he bent down. I felt his arm slip under my knees and his other rest on my back.

With ease, he stood up with me in his arms bridal style. My face burned red but thankfully you couldn't tell since I was already red from fever and crying. I weakly protested because I didn't want him to put me down.

"I I'm o-okay Shinji, I… I can walk." He gave me the look that said be quiet and obey and I smiled shyly. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I laid my head on his chest and felt my eyes getting heavier. I let out a sigh and let sleep take me over.

XxX

This woman was going to be the death of me. I didn't care what she wanted, she was sick and I wasn't gonna leave her alone about it. She told me she was sick but she also told me she was better. She either lied to me or she didn't know she was still sick.

Either way she wasn't getting far. She was falling asleep walking even before she started throwing up. I have no idea what possessed me to Carry her like a baby instead of making her walk. When she wrapped her arms around me my stomach started cramping up. When she fell asleep, she started snuggling her face in the crook of my neck making my heart burn. She let out a happy sigh that sent electricity down my spine and I cursed the bluenette for always somehow triggering my indigestion.

I took her to an empty cave and spread her sleeping bag out. I laid her down and placed an empty bowl next to her, just in case, along with a box of tissues and a bag to use for trash. I pulled out my sleeping bag and unzipped it like I had hers and made it into a comforter that I used to cover her trembling body.

She was burning up fro fever but she was shaking like she was cold. I decided to go get some firewood and stones so I grabbed Volkits pokeball and let him out.

"Vol!"

"I need you to stay with her." I pointed to a now peacefully sleepimg Hikari and looked back at my small hyena. "She's sick and cold so im going to get firewood. I expect you to keep her safe while im gone."

"Volkit!" I nodded at my pokemon. It stood proudly in a defensive stance in front of the sleeping bluenette for a moment before walking over to her and curling up next to her. Hikari rolled over and put her arm around my small pokemon and I chuckled a bit at the sight.

Hikari was clutching volkit like a stuffed bear and volkit was purring and rubbing his head on her chin. I decided they would be fine and left with Torterra to find what I needed.

About an hour later, I returned to find volkit and Hikari in the same position I had left them in. I smirked and pulled out my pokedex to snap a photo. I might be an asshole but I still enjoy cute things every now and then. And Hikari cuddling my baby pokemon like a toddler while wearing my hoodie was cute. Not that I would ever tell anyone that… Ever!

I pit my pokedex back up and turned to the cave opening. I started grabbing the giant stones I gathered and set them up in a circle. After a few minutes I had a decent fire pit built. It was about four feet around and two and a half feet high. I called Torterra out and had him use his ability to manipulate the earth to help me fill in all the gaps.

He then used a very weak leafstorm to shed his dried out leaves and aimed them into the pit. I thanked him and started setting up the wood in a teepee fashion over the leaves. Finally I grabbed some paper and set the dried leaves on fire.

After a while, the wood caught fire and the temperature in the cave began to rise. It was perfect timing too because right then, it began to thunder loudly before lightning flashed and the sky finally opened up.

I turned back to check on Hikari and felt her forehead. She still had a fever but it was slowly getting cooler. Volkit stirred and looked at me with glassy eyes. I smirked at him and scratched under his chin. He purred and stretched a bit before adjusting himself and going back to sleep with Hikari.

I decided to cook before I woke her up. I knew she'd need something light so I dug in both of our bags until I found all of the ingredients I needed.

Looking st the packs of mushrooms, potatoes, onions, corn, carrots, celery, noodles, chicken, and seasonings, I decided to dig into the cold stuff.

I pulled out my cooler and grabbed a few eggs that I had boiled the night before and some lemons and cabbage. The last thing i grabbed were some rolls and foil before I pulled out a pan and pot and began to cook.

(For recipe check out my cookbook Otakus Kitchen)

Another two hours had passed. Hikaris fever had finally broken and volkit had woken up. I sent him to sit with Torterra, Piplup, Lemflur, and Hikaris egg where they were munching down on some 'berry burst' pokéchow. I decided it was time for Hikari to get up and started to shake her shoulder gently. I didn't speak gently though."Troublesome woman. Wake up."

I had to hold myself from smiling at her sleepy face. She looked around for a moment before her eyes focused on me and she smiled at me lazily."Huh? Shinji?"

"Eat this." I shoved a bowl of hot soup in her face. She looked at it blankly before accepting it with a small smirk. Smirking was my thing, what the hell?! I looked away from her And handed her three bright red and blue pills "And take these."

She took them without hesitation and I handed her a cup of cold sweetened green tea to wash them down. "T-thank you Shinji." She sighed out. I looked at her and waited until she finally started eating.

"The faster you get better the faster we can make it to Wakulima." I wasn't sure why i needed to point that out since she obviously knew that but I guess I just can't help but be a jerk.

Thankfully she ignored me and continued eating like she was starved. Her eyes lit up and she looked at me excitedly. "Oh my Arceus, this is really good Shinji."

"Whatever." I didn't like taking compliments no matter how trivial. I just didn't feel comfortable taking praise so I shrugged it off. But she didn't take the hint like she usually did.

"I'm serious! It's really good." I decided to end the conversation before it turned into an argument.

"Good. Then you should have no problem finishing it." She smirked again and went back to eating. I sat down and began eating my own bowl of takiyaki. I guess she noticed because she started questioning my meal.

"Why didn't you have any soup?"

"Because I'm not sick and that soup has healing herbs in it."

She looked shocked by that and a thoughtful look crossed her face before she asked, "Where did you learn to make medicinal foods?"

"During one of my earlier journeys in Unova." I explained simply. Taking note of the encouraging expression on her face I continued. " I got really sick and was treated in the Village of Dragons by a woman named Elise. She taught me a lot of ancient healing techniques that have come in handy more than once."

"Woah." She seemed genuinely impressed. " Do you think you could teach me?"

I thought about it for a minute. It couldn't hurt to teach her a few things."Maybe. Now be quiet and eat before it gets cold."

She nodded and went back to slurping her soup. I went back to my takiyaki and we ate in silence for a while. She must really have liked my soup because by the time we had finished, she had eaten two full bowls and finished an entire glass of tea.

I took our dishes and walked over to Piplup who helped me wash everything. I put it all away and returned both mine and Hikaris pokemon for the night. Walking back over to the fire, I sat down near but not next to Hikari.

She looked in my direction but she wasnt looking at me. She was looking sort of spaced out and conflicted, like she was having some sort of inner crisis. I thought about asking her what was wrong but decided against it. Instead I waited for her to figure out whatever it was driving her crazy. It was probably for the best because a few minutes later, her eyes focused on me and she began to speak. "Hey Shinji?"

"What?"

"Could you, uh… not tell Renji that I got sick already?" What did she mean already? Was she planning on getting sick sometime during her journey. Her explination of the doctor clearing her was making less and less sense.

"Why?"

"Because he'll mention it to my mom and she'll make a big deal until I go home and… I'm not ready to give up yet." I knew it! She was lying to me all along. She was in no condition to be on a journey and I was pretty ticked off that she lied tome.

"Then tell me the truth Hikari. Is this," I motioned my hands in front of me pointing out her weakened state, "something that needs to be addressed? Are you actually okay or do you need to get medicine or something? Should you even be traveling at all?!"

"It's really fine Shinji. I promise." I didn't believe her at all. She answered too quickly. "Then tell me what's wrong with you and maybe I'll believe you."

"Fine. " She sighed in defeat. I noticed the change in her seminar, she went from defensive to withdrawn and depressed. I started to wonder what she was going to tell me. Was she dying? Was she in some sort of remission? I just wanted the truth.

"The truth is, I have an autoimmune disease. " I stared blankly not knowing what that meant. She sighed again and started to explain. "Basically my body attacks itself. My white blood cells attack my body tissue and it makes me sick. It gets worse when the weather changes from hot to cold to rainy or snowy too quickly. I'll be sick for a day and then I'll be fine, sometimes it lasts a few days but that's usually during winter."

That explained why she had gotten so sick so fast. But if her body was constantly attacking itself, she must've been in constant pain. Yet she never complained. I looked at her in a new light in that moment and realized there was so much I didn't know about her.

"I won't tell Renji. But you will be seeing a doctor when we get to the next town."

"But-" I cut her off before she even had a chance to argue with me. If she was traveling with me she was going to play by my rules weather she liked it or not.

"It's not up for debate. You want me to keep quiet? Then you're going to prove to me that you're healthy enough to continue your journey."

"Fine." She finally gave in. I smirked in satisfaction before pulling out my spare blanket from my bag. I situated myself against the cave wall and got ready to go to sleep.

"Get some rest. Tomorrow we'll continue east. We should be in Wakulima in three days." I saw a small smile cross her brightly blushing face. I hoped her fever wasn't coming back. Thankfully she laid back down and curled up under my sleeping bag.

"Okay. Goodnight Shinji."

"Goodnight."

So... What did you guys think???

Now for this week's question...

1.) Would you like me to write about their visit to the doctor?

2.) Who should be the person to surprise them when they get to the next town???

A) Kenny

B) Toka

C) Reggie

D) Serena


	16. Chapter 16

Ok monsters, here it is! Part 2/4!!! So if you haven't guessed yet, this is the first major story arc. (Msitu Arc)

I'm sorry for leaving you with another cliffhanger but. I promise you won't have to wait too long between updates! I'll try to have the entire 4 chapters finished by Sunday.

This chapter is entirely in Shinjis POV.

Anyway... Please let me know your predictions for whatll happen next!

Now, onto the story!!!

XxX

Running through the jungle left me with a feeling of dread I hadn't felt in over a decade. I was angry with myself for letting that thing run away with hikari. I was so close. When I leapt forward to the giant hole in the ground, my fingers grazed Hikaris hand. I tried to grab her but the burning sensation from that things leg sent me flying backwards in pain.

When she screamed my name I could hear the utter terror in her voice. Piplup was crying loudly shooting brine and ice beam attacks rapidly. A few caught the creatures legs but Piplup was so distraught his attacks weren't doing nearly half the damage they normally would've.

The throbbing in my arm stopped my train of thought. I didn't stop running though. I kept pushing even though my legs were beginning to burn. I was close and I knew it. I could tell by the damage to the surrounding foliage that the creature had just passed through. That gave me the extra boost I needed to go even faster.

Nearly fifteen minutes later I arrived in an unnatural clearing. The entire area was surrounded by fallen trees that looked like they had been ripped from the root. Giant tracks in the ground let me know the creature was near. I heard a muffled scream coming from underneath of me.

Looking frantically I saw an opening in the ground and ran straight for it. I was about to dive in and go after Hikari but I was thrown back by a powerful unseen force.

I heard a loud and deep roaring sound and jumped to my feet. I reached onto my belt and tossed out a pokeball. "Torterra, stand by for battle!"

The earth shook and we focused on the grounds opening. Within seconds the creature that had kidnapped hikari stood before me in its full terror. It was a monster if I'd ever seen one.

It had eighteen brownish red legs running the length of its slimy green and yellow body. On its back were sixteen barbed spines that looked filled to the brim with poison. It had two giant pinchers on the front of its face and an additional two in the back that were dark brown. It was both disgusting and terrifying at the same time.

I didn't have time to dwell on the fact that this creature looked like something straight out of one of my nightmares. It had Hikari somewhere underground and I had to find her before it was too late.

"Use stone edge!" With a roar of his name, Torterra slammed his feet on the ground causing dozens of giant boulders to fall injuring the unknown pokemon.

It glared at us and shook its head before rushing forward with a raging battle cry. It's body glowed green and shot green orbs towards Torterra. "Torterra it's getting ready to use gigs drain, block it with stone edge!"

Immediately a wall of stone formed in front of my pokemon causing the creatures move to be deflected. It grunted in annoyance as I called out my next move. "Use frenzy plant and follow it up with solar beam!"

Years of training prepared us for this combination. Normally it would take a pokemon a full turn for recovery for frenzy plant and an additional full turn to charge up solar beam. But we used this deadly combination so often that Torterra learned to charge his solar beam while he was recovering, saving us a full minute or two of recovery time.

Green thorny vines sprouted from.the ground twisting and turning until they had the creature trapped in a web of poisonous frenzy. Before I had a chance to say anything the creature shot out a ball of poison. Luckily Torterras vines shifted causing the attack to miss.

That split second was all we needed. Torterra roared as the leaves on his tree began to glow. The light erupted and in a flash the offending pokemon was surrounded. It screamed in pain and fell to the ground with a thunderous clap.

I tossed an ultraball at the now unconscious pokemon, but a blue light sparked and my pokeball fell on the ground. Which meant this pokemon belonged to someone. My fury grew knowing this pokemon was ordered to take Hikari and I began looking around frantically.

"Show yourself!" But I was met with silence. Piplup erupted from his pokeball and after a quick discussion with Torterra, he ran straight into the dark hole. Returning torterra I dove in after the little runt.

XxX

"Hikari!"

"Pipluppp!"

We walked in the dark for what felt like hours calling Hikaris name with no answer. I hadn't expected the cavern to be so deep but to my dismay, there was still no end in site. I was beginning to lose my patience when Piplup began squabbling like an idiot.

I looked to where he was pointing with his flipper and saw a woman with green hair and lightly tanned skin. She wore a solid green jumpsuit with brown designs on it. Her ankle boots were the same color brown and she finished her look with a brown bandana tied over her bushy hair.

"I see you defeated my Centison." I assumed she was talking about the giant pokemon Torterra had just defeated. I glared at her and took a few steps forward but she put her hand on her belt. I stopped and took note of the single pokeball and stared her down. "What the fuck did you do with Hikari?!"

My anger flared when she simply waved her finger as if she were scolding a child. "Tisk tisk… don't be so rude."

This woman was seriously pissing me off. "Give her back!" I yelled at the she-bitch standing in my way. She didn't seem to care about the growl in my voice and she simply laughed. She relaxed her hand from her belt and looked at me with obvious amusement.

"All in due time my boy. But first, I think introductions are in order."

I was done with this bitch. She was wasting my time and playing with me. I was enraged at her antics. I didn't give a shit what her name was.

"Screw you! Where is Hikari?!"

A frown finally crossed her features and she tisked one more time before grabbing her pokeball and holding it up. "Fine. If you want her back you'll have to beat me in battle!"

"Fine by me. Tor-" before I had a chance to release him, Piplup stood in front of me with murder in his eyes. "Piplup!"

Normally I would have told him to bug off but, Hikari was his trainer. If he wanted to help get her back that was fine with me. I knew from experience he wasn't as weak as he looked so I shrugged and waited for the she-bitch to release her own pokemon.

"Come on out baby, it's showtime!" My eyes widened briefly before narrowing in her direction. It was another of those Centison pokemon but this one was even bigger than the last. I looked down at Piplup expecting him to be afraid but he looked as furious as I felt. I knew i made the right choice when without instruction he let loose the most powerful freeze dry attack I'd ever seen.

Icy air escaped the little runts beak and hit its mark. The entire bottom half of the giant bug was now frozen. Using its pincers it desperately tried to claw its way out. The she-bitch glared at me. "What on earth?! Control your pokemon!"

"You wanted a battle?" I asked with a stone cold stare. I glanced at piplup who gave me a nod and I knew we could end this quickly. "Well now you've got one. Piplup drill peck full power!"

Her eyes widened and she called out a hyper beam to counter. But the bug pokemon was too concerned with the burning pain from the dry ice encasing its body to listen. Piplup took the opportunity to slam his elongated metallic beak directly in its eye, essentially blinding it.

"No!" She cried in anguish. "Centison use pin missile!" The pokemon blindly shot off glowing poisonous thorns in all directions but it was already too late.

"Finish it with aura beam!" Not a second later, a rainbow of aurora looking lights shot from Piplups beak surrounding the struggling Centison. In a brightly lit explosion of teal blue and purple, the ice shattered from its body and it fell unconscious at the unknown trainers feet.

Piplup looked at me breathing heavily. I nodded and walked up to the she-bitch and demanded answers. "Give. Her. Back. NOW!"

She flinched back in fright and pointed towards a dark path. Without another glance at her, I scooped Piplup and both mine and Hikaris bags into my arms and took off running down the path. I was two steps closer to Hikari and I had to keep going.


	17. Chapter 17

Hey monsters! Part 3/4 of our Msitu Arc!

(If the next chapter gets any longer I'll have to split the arc into 5 parts instead of 4. Only because it's already at 3k words)

So this chapter is entirely in Hikaris POV. I'm sorry if it feels rushed. If it does lmk in the comments and I'll do better with detail next chapter.

We're also introducing a new character today so be looking out!

So now without any more distractions, onto the story.

EDIT: I FORGOT TO ADD MUSIC AND INTERACTIVE QUESTIONS...

XxX

"SHINJI!"

"Hikari!"

"No…" As Shinji and piplup grew further away so did my will to struggle. What was I going to do even if did free myself? I didn't have Lemflur with me or Piplup, both of their pokeballs were in my bag. The only thing I had was my egg that I had strapped to my back for close keeping.

It had been glowing nonstop for two days and I wanted to make sure I was there when it hatched. Eventually the creature ran to a clearing and dove straight into a tunnel in the ground. Within fifteen minutes I was being put on the ground in what looked like an underground bunker.

I noticed the pokemon was slowing and I realized that we were in some sort of underground city. Eventually the pokemon set me on the ground in front of a… unique looking woman.

She had her curly hair braided in tight rows and tied back with a band. The sides and underside were shaved and the moss green color clashed with her scarred cocoa skin. Her face bore neon green tribal makeup that matched her undercover. She had a dark green corset covered with a green leather zip up vest that matched her knee high combat boots. Her torn up dark green shorts matched the fingerless gloves she wore making her an intimidating looking woman.

She walked up to the pokemon who had taken me and patted its stomach before returning it and turning to face me. "I hope your trip wasn't too rough?"

"Who are you? What do you want with me?! What WAS that thing?!" I was terrified and furious at her casual attitude. She acted like we were old friends and that i should know who she was.

Seeming to understand my distress, she smiled at me and motioned for me to sit down. I ignored her and with a sigh, she began to introduce herself. "Oh no need to worry young one. My name is Rumi, I'm the Msitu island captain."

"You… what?" She was the island captain? What kind of jacked up captain lives underground and kidnaps trainers?

"You're here to participate in the island trials with that young man right?" She knew about Shinji? How? How the hell did she know we were here for the trials?!

"Well yeah," I said suspiciously "… but why on earth did you kidnap me?!" I let my anger take over and for the first time in my lifetime, I disrespected an elder. "You're insane."

"So I've been told. Get over it, this is how the trial works. Now listen up!" She walked over to a closet and began digging for something. " If you want out of this tunnel and back on the surface you'll have to gather three items." So she kidnapped me to make me do manual labor? Great. "The items will be used to summon the totem pokemon of course."

"And Shinji?" I wondered how he was going to react when he found out what was going on, but I knew this crazy woman was in for a rude awakening when he got here.

"His test will be to find you." I figured as much by this point. I wondered if after today, she would change her trial because I can only imagine the terror Shinji is causing right now.

"You do realize taking me like that was a horrible decision don't you?"

"Why would that be? I do it all the time." I just stared at her with my mouth agape. This woman was seriously either overconfident or just… dumb. Either way any pity I might have felt for her was gone and I narrowed my eyes. She mentioned to me finding items and I wanted to get away from her already.

"Yeah, that doesn't sound sketchy at all…" I said sarcastically. Rumi either ignored my comment or it went right over her head because she kept looking at me as if expecting an answer as to why KIDNAPPING me was a bad idea. "You've already done it. He's your problem now."

"What do you mean?" She asked finally showing a hint of nervousness.

"That guy I was with…" I said choosing my words carefully. "He's in line to be the next champion of Sinnoh." Her eyes widened as the severity of the situation finally began to sink in. She opened her mouth to say something but the shaking of the tunnel made her stop. Not expecting the ground to be shifting beneath me, I let out a scream and stumbled to keep my balance.

"He can't be here already!" She said with obvious concern on her face. "My centison are too strong to be taken out that fast."

"I told you you messed up." I felt a sick sense of satisfaction at the fear in her eyes. "So tell me, what are these items I need to find? By the sound of it, I don't have much time."

XxX

I walked further in the tunnel to an area where I was supposed to search. Rumi gave me a shovel and pick and sent me to the mines. I had a picture of three different stones. One was a dull green with a bright neon green spiral on it. Another was grey with amber colored zig zag and the final stone was tan with a violet circle on it.

When I finally found the underground mine, I looked for a safe place to set my still glowing egg. When I found a platform I decided it was the perfect spot and removed my incubator backpack and set it down. Once I was sure it was secure I turned and looked at the giant cavernous room.

There was nothing that would give me a hint as to where to dig so I picked an untouched area near my eggs platform and began slamming the pickaxe on the ground. It was harder than I expected. The first few times I hit metal to ground my arms vibrated from the impact.

I really wished I had Piplup. His water would soften this dirt up in no time. But I was alone and had to do this if I wanted to get out of this Mew forsaken underground labyrinth. Growling in frustration I threw all of my pent up anger into my next few swings and to my delight the dirt finally started loosening up.

Switching to the shovel, I started scooping one shovelful at a time, carefully sifting through the dirt for stones. I repeated the process hundreds of times finding lots of evolution stones, some gems, and even a few headstones, but no special stones.

One hour later I was covered in dirt and sweat. My hair which had previously been hanging loose was now tied up in a messy top knot bun and my white shoes were stained with clay from deep within the earth. My pants had tears in the knees and my shirt was clinging to me uncomfortably.

I was pissed at my appearance but happy with my progress. I had successfully found all three stones I needed to complete my part of the trial.

I attempted to dust myself off but gave up when I noticed the dirt getting worse. Arceus i needed a bath. Placing the three stones in the emergency pouch on the incubator bag, I grabbed my egg along with the shovel and pickaxe and began the short walk back to Rumis room.

Upon returning, I couldn't help but laugh. Shinji had found me alright. The room was nearly caved in and Rumi was cowering in a corner with Shinji feet from her in a threatening stance. I was genuinely worried he was going to hit her so I quickly ran to his side.

"Shinji!" Turning from the frightened at uni, Shinji looked in my direction and stomped over to me. He grabbed both of my hands in his and I found myself strangely grateful for the dirt on my face. At least he wouldn't see my blush at his close contact. His eyes scanned my body and he held my arms out to inspect them.

That's when I noticed the disgusting gash running the length of his forearm. I looked at him with worry but my mind went blank when I saw the concern and relief flooding Shinjis eyes. "What happened to you?" I asked trying to break away from his enchanting gaze.

"Nothing. Are you okay?" The urgency in his voice made my skin quiver. " Im fine, just dirty, a little shaken up, and kind of pissed."

"Good" He let out a sigh and his hold on me loosened. He glared back at Rumi and looked at me with a serious expression. "Now explain what's going on."

Without missing a beat I summarized the situation as best I could. I knew Shinji was pissed and I didn't want to be the target of his frustration. That honor belonged to Rumi today.

"She's the island captain. That was our trial." His eyes widened in fury and he turned to Rumi who hadn't moved from the corner. Her eyes got huge when he walked directly in her face and began screaming at her. "What the actual fuck is wrong with you?! Kidnapping people?! Are you insane or just completely stupid?!"

"Shinji…" I tried to calm him down because I had never seen him this mad but he shot me a look that said 'shut up.and stay out of this'll so I quickly did just that.

"No Hikari, this is fucked in so many ways I can't even begin to count them!" He turned to the woman in front of him, inches from her nose and screamed again. "Look at my fucking arm! Do you get some sort of sick satisfaction out of injuring trainers?!"

"I, I didn't mean to…. Rumi finally tried to say something but shinji was having none of it.

"Shut up! Tell us where to find the totem pokemon so we can get out of this mad house!"

"Shinji!" I grabbed his arm and pulled him into my hold. My arms were wrapped around his stomach from behind and i was pulling him away from a now terrified Rumi. "You need to let me bandage your arm before it gets infected."

Shinji shifted his glare from Rumi to me but I glared back until he furrowed his brows and let out a reluctant sigh. "Fine."

Letting go I walked him over to a spot on the other side of the room where my backpack was. I dug around until I found my first aid kit. Before I started patching Shinji up, I sent the island captain my own glare accompanied with a warning. "Rumi I suggest you answer him before he gets mad again."

Her face paled at the thought and she stood up straight and began explaining the last leg of the trial. "R-right, uh… so you're gonna follow the same path you just followed to get to the mines but instead of turning left, you'll go right. You'll need to place the three stones on the altar and the totem pokemon will come."

"And the battle?" I asked. I had finished cleaning the wounds and was applying glue to seal the cut until I could get him properly stitched up.

"You may both use one pokemon. The totem will call wild pokemon for help if it feels overpowered. If you manage to defeat the totem then you pass the trial." It sounded very much like the Alolan trials so I wasn't too worried with Shinji there. I grabbed a roll of bandage wrap and wrapped Shinjis arm tightly, but not too tightly. After putting everything back in my bag, I stood up and offered him a hand.

"Ok Shinji im done."

"Good let's go." He took my hand and pulled himself up. But instead of letting go he turned his hand around and laced his fingers with mine. I was not going to say anything because honestly I was still completely freaked out and holding his hand gave me a sense of security I didn't really care to understand.

As we were leaving I heard Rumi calling behind us. "Uh, stop by on your way out so I can give you your offering."

I gripped Shinjis hand tighter when he tried to go back to scold her more. Without fighting he allowed me to drag him down the path and towards our final obstacle.

OK QUESTION TIME...

WHICH ISLAND SHOULD HIKARI AND SHINJI HEAD TO NEXT?

A) fire island

B) fighting island

C) thunder island


	18. Chapter 18

Hey monsters! Oneesama here with part 4/4 of the Msitu story Arc. So first and foremost, I want to say...

THANK YOU GUYS SO SO MUCH!!!

This book has reached 100 votes and surpassed 600 reads as of 2am 9/20/19!

I did not expect this kind of reaction when I began writing this book. I'm really glad so many people are enjoying it.

So this is the grand finale to the Msitu Arc! Part 4/4! I didnt make you guys wait too long did I?

So I realized that I completely forgot to mention something early on when we learned about the island trials. (It's kinda importsnt to the story)

In Afini you can have up to 8 pokemon on your team instead of 6. You are also allowed one 'pet' pokemon that isnt allowed to be used in official battle. (Most people choose newly hatched pkmn for this spot)

Anyway yeah that's kinda important lol. So anyway... Right now the vote is tied. For your choice of which island our ikari couple should travel to.

Thunder Fire island both have 6 votes.

Only 3 or 4 chapters left on Msitu island so be sure to lmk which island you think they should head to next!

Now, without anymore interruptions...

Onto the story!!!

XxX

Walking down the beaten path was strange. Shinji kept glancing at me from the corner of his eye making me wonder, was he mad at me or worried? "What's wrong Shinji?"

"You're shaking." He sounded mad. Was he mad at me for being scared?

"I'm just… I'm sorry Shinji." His glare softened and I heard him sigh. "I'm not angry with you."

My anxiety lessened and I thought about why he might be mad. He dug into his pocket and pulled out a red and white box out along with a lighter. I didn't know Shinji smoked. But I figured it wasn't a new habit based on how effortlessly he lit it and took a long drag without coughing. "You should've let me pummel her."

"Shinji!" I yelled in surprise.

"What?" He shrugged. He had a smirk on his face so I knew he was teasing me but still, the future champion of Sinnoh should never joke about hitting a woman. I rolled my eyes and nudged him playfully with my shoulder.

"You know as well as I do you wouldn't do that." His smirk vanished and his eyes grew hard. He took another deep inhale of cigarette smoke before he spoke. Each word was delebrit and I knew he was pissed at the island captain.

"She kidnapped you Hikari. I don't show mercy to my enemies." Wait… her taking me made her his enemy? Why? Was it some big brother complex since I'm such good friends with Renji? It had to be. It's not like he liked me in any way shape or form. Hell, I doubted if he even saw me as a woman.

"She's not your enemy," i tried to explain rationally, " it was part of the trial." But Shinji was having none of it.

"And that makes it right?" He finished his cigarette and threw it on the ground stomping on it. He was yelling and it scared me. "... You're right Shinji. Im, I'm sorry I let that happen."

He stopped walking and looked me straight in the eye. I think he realized how much his voice could effect me because he stopped yelling and softened his gaze a bit. "You have nothing to apologize for."

He turned and began to walk again leaving me to chase after him with confusion clouding my mind.

"You're not? But I let myself get taken and-"

"She caught us both off guard." He snapped effectively shutting me up. He took a minute before saying anything else. " My only explanation is maybe it was a test to see how we would react in that situation. Either way… it wasn't your fault."

Realizing we were just going to keep going in circles until one of us was pissed off, I decided to change the subject. "Okay. So um, which pokemon are you using?"

" Volkit." He answered without missing a beat.

"I was going to use Lemflur." He nodded in my direction letting me know he approved of my choice.

"That's fine." He said giving me confirmation. He started telling me about his plan for attack and I had to admit, it was pretty good. " If it's another one of those Centison, aim for its eyes while I take out its back legs. Then we can attack it head on."

"I'll follow your lead." He gave me a wordless nod signaling that he'd heard me before his arm shot straight out in front of me and he stopped walking.

"We're here."

XxX

Of course it was another Centison. Of course this one would be as big as a fucking building. I thought the legendaries were threw messing with me but I guess i was wrong. Ignoring the annoyance bubbling in my stomach I grabbed my pokeball and prepared for battle.

Hikari followed suit and tossed her own pokeball out. "Lemflur, spotlight!"

"Volkit, stand by for battle."

In a flash of light both pokemon appeared snarling their names with their tails erect.

"Centa!" The giant pokemon roared. It's call echoed throughout the cavern and shook the ground. Hikari stumbled but I stood my ground and called my first attack.

"Volkit, use thunder fang on its stomach!"

Hearing the urgency in my voice, Hikari quickly recovered and followed my lead as promised. "Lemflur, use bullet seed on its eyes!"

"Veevee!" Volkit rushed forward with it's creepy laugh. It's body crackling with electricity. Four giant fangs made of lightning formed around its muzzle and extended forward as it grew in size. In one fluid motion volkit bit down and the lightning Fang bit into centisons exposed belly.

"Lem!" At the same time, Lemflur twisted his tail and shot out dozens of neon green seeds towards the creatures face. As they each made contact, they exploded and began to grow vines trapping the giant pokemons upper body.

"Cente!" It let out a call and I could hear the feet of an approaching pokemon. It must've been it's helper. Before I had a chance to warn Hikari I heard her yell at her pokemon.

"Lemflur watch out behind you!" Instantly, the little flower monkey spun and shot off an energy ball hitting an approaching aridose. The move hit the giant arachnid in the stomach sending it flying into the cave wall. It fell to the ground on its back with its legs curled into itself, clearly knocked out. "Great job lemflur! Now lets help out… bullet seed again!"

I was still using a combination of thunder Fang and dark pulse when they rejoined the battle. Hikari could see volkit was getting tired. I looked at her and she nodded in understanding. Calling her pokemon to her side, she called her final attack."Lemflur, use solar beam!"

"Volkit get out of the way and use bulk up!"

Both of our pokemon took a step back before nodding at each other. Lemflur crouched down on its stomach and raised its floral tail like a cannon. Volkit began to spark and static jumped around him. "FINISH THIS!" we screamed in unison.

"Vol~kit!!!" Volkit body was engulfed in a blinding yellow light that shot up and out until Centison body was engulfed in electricity. At the same time Lemflur made a cry of his own and let loose a very powerful solar beam that hit Centison in the face. The two moves combined sent the giant bug crashing to the ground in an unconscious mess.

"Alright we did it!" Hikari was jumping up and down in excitement. I shook my head and ignored her antics while she returned her pokemon. I then turned to my own. "Well done Volkit, return."

"You were great lemflur!" She gave her pokemon a hug before pulling its pokeball out. " Why don't you rest in your pokeball for a bit?"

After our pokemon were returned we just kind of stood around in an awkward silence until she spoke up. "Hey Shinji?"

"What?"

"Can we get out of this cave now?"

XxX

After collecting our offerings from Rumi, we made our way out of the underground trial labyrinth and out into open space. Now that everything was calm, I realized just how far we actually were from where this all began.

It took about an hour to get out of the tunnels and once we made it to the surface, it took an additional hour to get back to the path. I realized that this was the reason Rumi was so shocked at how fast Shinji hot there. He ran what normally takes two hours to walk, in less than twenty minutes.

We began walking towards the next village when something occurred to me. "Hey Shinji?"

"What?"

"I thought the trial was supposed to be held in Wakulima?"

He stopped walking and looked at me with a horrified expression. "Stay here!" Turning, he ran back in the direction we had just come from and I sweatdropped. I wondered what was going through his mind but I figured it was probably best I just wait like he told me to. I looked at the sky and noticed it was nearing sunset so I decided to set up camp while I waited.

After I had camp set up and a fire going, I pulled out my pokétech and texted Sakura.

XxX

How's life in the fashion world?

Hey! It's going great! Lopbunny just won a fashion show here in Unova!

You're in Unova? Wow! :o tell her congratulations for me! So what else is new?

Yeah. We came for the fashion show last week. We're going back to kalos in two weeks after we go to kanto to visit Satoshi's mom.

Aww that's sweet! I can't wait until I have a boyfriend to travel with!

I'm actually really glad you messaged. So apparently Professor Sheguru Oak is an old friend of Satoshi.

Ok…

Well he's in the Afini region doing research and he asked Satoshi to fly out and help him.

Oh cool! When?

I'm not 100% sure yet but I'm going with him! It will probably be next month!

OMA! I'm so excited!!! :D

Me too. I hope I get to see you perform!"

For sure!

Well I've gotta go. Satoshi is taking me to his friend Cilans restaurant for dinner before we leave Unova.

Ok I'll call you next week sometime.

K! Love ya!

Love ya! Ttyl!

XxX

It was nearly midnight when i returned. The dinner Hikari made sat in that black bento box from before and she was curled up in a blanket on the ground next to the embers of the long since burned out fire.

I checked to make sure she was asleep before I grabbed her Piplups pokeball and my bag and headed for the jungle. Once I was far enough away, I tapped the button on the blue ball and waited for the little penguin to appear.

"Piplup?" He looked at me curiously and I just looked away. "I need you to fill this bucket with warm water."

"Pip?"I really didn't feel like arguing with a bird so i explained as quickly as I could. "I need to clean my wounds before Hikari sees me and freaks out."

He looked me over and nodded. Standing up he puffed out his chest and agreed to help. "Piplup." He then waddled over to my bucket and filled it up with steaming hot water. He even filled up a second bucket. Where he got it, I had no idea. Polemon logic I guess. I just shrugged and pulled his ball back out. "Thanks. Now return."

I took a washcloth with some antibacterial soap and began cleaning the cuts on my arms. I then removed my clothes and gave myself a quick scrub down and used the last of the water to wash my hair. I slipped into my pajama pants and a black muscle shirt and returned to camp.

I put Piplups ball back and dug out Hikaris sleeping bag. I rolled it out and then rolled mine out next to it. Walking over to Hikari I slipped my arms under her and picked her up easily. I carried her to her sleeping bag and laid her down before zipping the bag up.

I decided to eat dinner before going to bed. I needed to think about my next move anyway. That woman, Rumi… she wasn't the island captain and that wasn't an island trial. I would have to explain what I found to Hikari tomorrow but for now, I just wanted to enjoy the cheesy broccoli and mushroom rice with bean buns she had cooked.

XxX

Okay guys... The vote is still tied between fire and thunder island lol.

So new question...

Should Shinji go to the bazaar with Hikari or should he go off on his own to train and catch a new pokemon? (Cant be both!)

Until next time monsters!!!


	19. Chapter 19

Hey monsters!!! Oneesama here with the newest chapter!!! So the second half is fairly fluffy and ooc. I didnt mean to do that, it just kind of happened. I think it's because I was working on my Fairy Tail book before this one so my mind was still on romance mode.

Upside is there's some ikarishipping fluff!!! Yay!!!

Anyway, sorry this update is a few days late. I should have part two of this chapter up by Friday!!!

If you haven't yet, I'd really appreciate it if you checked out my other book

Key to the Starry Night Sky

Oh another thing...

This book now has over 800 reads and 113 votes!!! It's also #9 in ikarishipping!!

I really hope to get more votes on this book but im amazed at the amount of reads I've gotten so far!!!

So i just want to say thank you all for your support!!!

Now, without further adieu, onto the story...

XxX

How do I wind up in these situations? Does Arceus get some sort of amusement from my embarrassment? That has to be it. Arceus must think of me as a play thing! Why else would things like this keep happening?!

Let me explain…

After Shinji had run off, I set up camp with the help of Lemflur, Colrow, and Piplup. We didn't bother with a tent because we didn't have one at the moment. Colrow used his claws to dig a fire pit while Piplup found rocks to go around it.

Lemflur took off to find some berries and I went to get firewood. I made the pokemon some fresh berry salad to go with their pokemon food and set some aside for Volkit and Torterra.

I was running low on cooking ingredients and wasn't sure what to make. Luckily, Lemflur had found some wild mushrooms and broccoli. I dug through my bag until I found my aluminum foil, rice, and dehydrated cheese. I had some already prepped bean buns so I grabbed my double pan, had Piplup add water to the bottom, and began to steam the buns.

I made cheesy broccoli and mushroom rice bake to go with the bean buns. It took a little over three hours to finish cooking and clean up. I checked my pokedex and saw it was well after ten at night so I returned my pokemon and grabbed a blanket. I sat down by the fire with a book.

I must have fallen asleep before Shinji returned because when I woke up it was morning. Now to get to the embarrassing part. I knew I hadn't taken my sleeping bag out before I fell asleep, but when I woke up I was safely zipped away in it.

I knew Shinji must've put me in bed. That in and of itself was humiliating enough, but it gets worse. I felt unusually comfortable when I woke up. I was warm and felt very content and I couldn't figure out why. That's when I felt something warm tickling my neck and noticed the light weight on my hip and against my back.

I turned my head slightly and turned a red to rival a charzards flames. Shinji was asleep behind me zipped up in his own bag. His right arm was laying on my hip, wrapped tightly around my waist, while his left was stretched under my head like a pillow. His chest was pressed against my back and honestly, I hadn't been more comfortable before in my life.

The tickling I felt on the back of my neck was Shinjis warm breath mixed with his long hair. Now, I won't lie. Laying there felt amazing but I knew he wouldn't feel that way. He must've had a bad dream or something, that was the reason I woke up in his arms. Thankfully my blush had faded away because I could feel him stirring. So I closed my eyes and pretended to still be asleep.

My heart was pounding so hard I was sure Shinji could hear it. His breathing pattern changed a little and suddenly I felt him sit up a little. The loss of contact sent shivers down my spine and I unconsciously scooted back towards him. I felt him squeeze me tightly with his right arm before letting go of my waist and carefully peel himself away.

I heard him go through my bag and then he was gone. Once I was sure he wasn't coming right back, I sat up and rushed to get changed. Going through my bag, I noticed Shinji took Piplups pokeball with him so I couldn't wash my hair. Great.

I grabbed a pair of black yoga pants and a yellow top that was tight on my stomach and loose above it with elbow length flowing sleeves. I put on a pair of black monverse* shoes with yellow shoe laces and finished my look by pulling my crazy waist length long hair into a messy bun.

I started another fire and started to cook breakfast. By the time Shinji returned, I had some breakfast sandwiches made and camp packed up. We ate on the go and began our way to Wakulima.

XxX

"So are you gonna tell me what happened yesterday? I was worried about you." We had been walking for about an hour in a comfortable silence. I was actually shocked it took her this long to bring it up. Honestly, I expected to be bombarded with questions the minute she saw me but, it didn't happen.

"I am more than capable of taking care of myself." I knew I sounded rude. I was doing it on purpose. Hikaris reactions were just too amusing to me so every opportunity I got, I teased her. Problem was she still had a hard time detecting my sarcasm.

"I know that! But you were gone for hours. To be honest, I didn't think you were coming back." I was expecting a frustrated reaction but to my dismay, I got a sad one instead.

"I wouldn't abandon you in the middle of the jungle." I mumbled just loud enough for her to hear. I heard her take in a sharp breath before she sneakily replied.

"Really Shinji?" Did she really think I was that cruel? I wouldn't abandon her in the middle of a jungle when she had just been kidnapped! As much as she denied it, I knew she wasn't okay with what happened. During the night, she had woken me up numerous times tossing, turning, and crying for help in her sleep.

Eventually it came to be too much for me to ignore and I held her in my arms until she calmed and began to sleep soundly. I wouldn't deny that I enjoyed the way she felt in my arms so, instead of letting go I instead pulled her close and held her through the night. I wanted to keep her nightmares away and it worked. She was still sleeping soundly in my arms when I got up.

She was stupid to think I'd abandon her.

"Of course not. Renji would never let me hear the end of it." I hoped my excuse for a brother would work. It seemed to upset her though. It was almost like she was hoping I would say I wanted to stay with her. I mean I did, but I wasn't gonna tell her that!

"Wow."

It grew silent again. But unlike our normal comfortable quiet, this seemed awkward and suffocating. Not being able to take the building tension between us I blurted out. "Rumi wasn't the island captain."

"W-what?" I watched the color drain from her face as the magnitude of the situation we were recently in dawned on her. She started to tremble so I grabbed her hand, forcing her to continue walking.

If this were any other time, I probably would've let her sit down and process everything, but I needed to get her as far away from this jungle as soon as possible. I knew she was completely on edge, but she had asked me what happened and I had yet to answer. I felt her turn her hand slightly and lace her fingers with my own. She seemed to relax the tiniest bit when I squeezed her hand in response, so I took that as my que to continue explaining.

"When I left yesterday it was because you pointed out that we hadn't reached our destination yet. So I went back to the tunnels to question this so called captain. But when I got there, Rumi was using her centison to destroy the entrance and trying to run off."

"What?! Why would she seal the tunnel entrance?"

"Because she needed to hide evidence. The only thing she said was we'd thank her later." Saying that pissed me off. She tricked me by releasing two centison. While Torterra and Volkit battled, she took her leave on a third centison.

"So… what happened?"

"She had her pokemon attack me instead of engaging in battle." I winced at the memory. I had been hit with a pin missile attack and thrown into a jagged tree. Ignoring the painful memory, I continued. "Torterra and Volkit easily took out both of her smaller centison but she managed to get away before I could question her further."

"But, what about the offerings?" To be honest, I was curious about that too. The woman had given us each a strange stone that I had never seen before.

"I don't know."

Another bout of silence engulfed us but this time it was more pleasant. Her small hand was still intertwined with mine and we were walking at a comfortable pace. I found myself enjoying the feel of Hikari in my grasp, much to my confusion. I couldn't understand why her random sighs made my chest ache, or why when she looked at me with those big blue eyes my stomach dropped to my feet.

I couldn't understand anything about this girl and it drove me crazy. I was going to let her go to see if that helped clear my mind but that idea flew out the window when Hikari started up conversation again. I guess the tension wasn't just getting to me.

"I was thinking of going to Ngurumo island next, maybe I can ask the professor there what these stones are." It wasn't a bad idea but it would throw her off course. Plus it would force us to separate sooner. Why did that bother me?

"It's possible. Why are you going to Ngurumo so soon though? Kazan is supposed to be the next island.. She looked away from me and down to the ground, almost like she was afraid if my reaction. Was I really that intimidating?

"Well Satoshi and Sakura are coming next month and-"

"What the hell is pathetic coming here for?!" I cut her off before I had a chance to stop myself. She shot me a glare and huffed as she continued.

"Satoshi is coming by request of professor oak junior. Sakura is bringing my Lopbunny so I want to go see them." Sakura? Who the hell is that?! I vaguely remember Hikari mentioning her but why would she have her pokemon?

"Why does she have YOUR Lopbunny?"

"I told you Sakura is a famous designer right? Well Lopbunny is one of her models."

"How pathetic." I shouldnt have said that because she let go of my hand abruptly and crossed her arms in a huff. My indigestion came back putting me in a foul mood as she continued her explination.

"She is not! Modeling makes lopbunny happy and she earns more than enough money to care for all of my pokemon year round." She defended.

"So you just gave your pokemon away?" I didn't know why I was so annoyed all of a sudden but I did know it was annoying as hell.

"No! Lopbunny was the first Pokemon I ever caught, I would never give her away!"

"But she lives with another trainer."

"The way I see it is, if she wasnt traveling with me, she'd be at the daycare with my other pokemon right?" Well, she wasn't wring about that.

"Correct."

"And while she was there, she would be trained regularly by someone other than me."

"Yes…" I think I knew where she was going with this and to my fury, it made absolute perfect sense.

"Then what's so wrong with leaving her with my best friend so she can have fun and make money instead of being miserable at a daycare?"

"I suppose when you put it that way it makes sense." I hated admitting it out loud but my response must've made her happy because she slipped her hand back into mine and smiled brightly at me. My chest started hurting and my stomach was turning. I could feel electricity shooting from the tips of my fingers up my arm and I had to admit, I rather enjoyed the sensation.

"Is that your version of an apology?" Her sudden question snapped me out of my thoughts.

"What?"

"You said me letting my pokemon not battle was pathetic. And then you said my reasoning made sense."

"I'm sorry." Her eyes grew wide before a dazzling smile covered her face.

"It's okay. I can see why you would think that, but I promise I'm only doing what I think is best for my pokemons potential.. It sounded like she was searching for my approval. Just this once, I decided to give her the satisfaction.

"If she can pay for year round pokemon daycare, I can't fault you for letting her do it." She seemed ecstatic by now and I couldn't help but crack a small smile at her childish antics.

"The money has nothing to do with it." She said seriously. I was surprised by her sudden change in attitude but what she said nect made me gain some respect for her. " I mean, yeah it's a nice bonus. I know if I ever face a real emergency I'll be okay. I know my pokemon are well cared for thanks to her and I think she's earned the right to do what she wants."

"I don't disagree. If one of my pokemon could earn that much money, I can't say for certain I wouldn't do the same thing."

A smirk crossed her face and she looked at me with a glint in her eye. I couldn't imagine what she found so amusing as a small giggle escaped her lips. She had a self satisfied look on her face and I suddenly felt uncomfortable for the first time in a long time under someone else's gaze. "Huh, imagine that."

"What?" I asked with enough enough venom to take down a legendary. She simply giggled again before looking at me with a brightness that nearly blinded me.

"We agree on something about pokemon for once." I couldn't help it. I laughed out loud at her response. She was right. We NEVER agreed on anything related to pokemon. This was definitely a first.

"Hm. The world must be ending." She laughed and smacked me playfully on the shoulder. I squeezed her hand and she sighed happily. She laid her head on my arm and scooted closer to me as we continued to walk. My fave heated up and I quickly turned so she couldnt see the blush on my cheeks. There it was, that strange sensation in the pit of my stomach.

I still couldn't place this feeling but I knew I liked it and I didn't want it to go away. I let out my own content sigh and we walked the rest of the way to Wakulima hand in hand with stupid grins on our faces.

XxX

Okay monsters...

So if you read my notifications, you'll know im thinking of doing a comedy chapter. The premise will be Shinji, Hikari, Sakura, and Satoshi getting drunk and playing a game.

For this I have 2 questions for the readers. Your answers determine the direction this chapter will go.

Question 1:

What game should they play?

A) Never Have I Ever

B) Truth Or Dare

Question 2:

Choose a question/dare (if you chose never have I ever choose an outrageous question.)

(If you chose truth or dare choose a question you want answered AND a dare but try to make it funny)


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey monsters! Oneesama back with this week's bonus upload! I'm having a hard time with the next chapter, but hopefully I'll overcome it. Also... I know this song is from Fairy Tail... I tend to blend both pokemon and Fairy Tail into both of my book's lol.**

**Also, yay oh my goodness, this book has almost 1k reads and 120 votes!!! I am shooketh!!!**

**THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!**

**So I have a question... Does anyone know of any good one shots for pokemon (not romantic is best) I am looking for inspiration for filler chapters for this book.**

**I have every major plot point planned and written out already but I need ideas for stuff to do in between the dramatic stuff. Lol.**

**Okay so I wanted to let y'all know for future reference, this book will eventually include a lemon (and probably a few steamy limes).**

**Also... We will be learning about (some of) Hikaris past during this trial!!!!!**

**Now, I want to dedicate this chapter to my newest readers**

**LeilaSuez**

**And**

**Anna182432n a user**

**Welcome! I hope you enjoy the story and vote in future interactive questions!**

**Now, monsters don't forget to vote below!!! Enough talk... Onto the story!!!**

**XxX**

* * *

"Welcome to this years Wakulima trial!" A woman with long curly green hair announced. She was wearing a green jumpsuit with a yellow undershirt and brown boots. She was the island captain and I was amazed by how pretty she was. "Im Armani Kutko!"

Shinji and I were standing in a clearing along with eight other trainers. There were five guys and three girls and only one other team with a boy and a girl.

"From what I understand, this is everyone here's first trial?"myself and everyone else nodded and she smiled widely in excitement. "Perfect! So, as you may have noticed on your way here, there is no pokemon center in this village. That is because you the trainer, needs to learn to heal your own pokemon without pre made potions and max heals."

"Uh, what about if we're traveling? Why wouldn't we buy full heals or potions?" A young girl who looked to be around twelve asked with a raised hand.

"I would hope you did stock up. But what happens when there is an emergency? What if you lose your bag, or run out before you can restock? What will you do then?"

Silence fell and she hummed in content having made her point. "You need to know the basics for surviving in the wild if you ever plan on becoming a truly great trainer."

I felt Shinji stiffen at her words and looked at him from the corner of my eye. His shoulders were tense and his eyes dark with determination. I prayed to every legendary that I would be useful to him on this trial. He looked so dead set on completing it, I didn't want to let him down.

* * *

"For the next three days you and your partner will be sent into the jungle with nothing but your pokeballs and this tracking bracelet." Gasps and mourners erupted as she dangled the solid black band in front of us. "You will wear this at all times. If you give up or are in danger, there is a panic button. Once you push it you will be immediately teleported back to my base."

A boy who looked around sixteen grunted and raised his voice in irritation. "You realize some of these kids are eleven?! You're gonna get them killed!"

"My pokemon and myself will be nearby at all times. We will not interfere with your trial unless your safety was at risk. There is no danger to you children.

"I'm nineteen, I'm not a child. You can call me Iemon." He said stubbornly. My cheeks flushed when I found out he was older than me. I allowed myself to look him over and was not unhappy with what I saw.

He had spiky sky blue hair and matching celeste blue eyes. He wore a skin tight grey turtleneck tank top and matching fingerless gloves that went to his forearms. His muscles were clearly defined in his shirt and I was horrified to find myself drooling a bit. He had a pair of loose fitting black pants tucked into a pair of solid black combat boots. He was… hot!

He noticed me staring and sent me a smirk that I could only describe as sexy. I on the other hand began to blush fiercely and looked away. I heard a low growl and looked up in shock to see Shinji glaring at Iemon. I squeaked in surprise as I felt his arm wrap around my waist and pulled me closer to him.

My face was burning as the two stared daggers at each other and I tried to calm myself by breathing slowly. I must have done it loudly though because Shinji suddenly snapped his gaze to me. "Are you alright?"

I didn't trust myself to speak so I gave a silent nod, refusing to meet his gaze. He let out a sigh of frustration before mumbling an apology and removing his arm from my waist. I whimpered slightly at the loss of contact, only adding to the enormous amount of embarrassment I was feeling.

I turned my attention back to the trial captain who was explaining that we would have to survive and make it to a certain point in the jungle in order to pass stage one of the trials. It would last four days and three nights and stage two would be explained to those who advanced.

* * *

Reluctantly, I gave up my bag to Armani worrying about my daily medication and how skipping three days might affect me. At least she let me keep my egg. We were also allowed to keep our spare pokeballs and our pokedexs. I was going to ask to speak with her privately about my medication and ask if I could keep them, when Shinji snatched my bag from the captain's hands and began digging through it. "Where are they?"

Knowing he was thinking about my health as much as I was, I sighed and answered simply. "Front zipper."

He yanked out a small box that contained all of my medicine and glared at Armani. "She's taking this."

The trial captain simply smirked in a challenging manner. "That's the rules." She shrugged as if she couldn't care less about how important those medicines were and I felt my distaste for the woman grow.

I tried to stop him, I really did. But you don't know Shinji when he's pissed. There's a reason he's set to be the next Sinnoh champion. And he's scary when he's mad. Armani was about to learn the hard way. "Fuck your rules! You said no pokemon medicine. That's hers and she's taking it whether you like it or not!"

"Then you can find another partner for the trial." She said seeming unfazed by his hostility. She handed out maps to everyone but me and gave him a cocky grin. "Unless you can prove to me she deserves it."

Okay, that actually pissed me off. I was about to yell at her for being a heartless bitch but Shinji noticed and gave me that look again. I closed my mouth and allowed him to take charge. "Call out your strongest pokemon. And when I beat it you will shut up and allow her to participate with her medication. She won't be getting sick because of your stupidity."

* * *

"A challenge huh? It's been a while. Fine. When I win, you two will both leave and attempt other trials instead." Shinji looked to me and smirked. Kami… he looked good when he did that. I could see the amusement in his eyes and couldn't hide the giggle that escaped when I realized he was going to embarrass the crap out of the trial captain. "Deal." He answered without looking at her.

He kept his eyes locked with mine and tossed Torterras pokeball without waiting to see what she'd use. Torterra roared and slammed his front legs on the ground. He looked back and saw Shinji staring at me and I swear to Zapdos he smirked too.

Armani seemed annoyed by his lack of fear and called out her own pokemon. To my surprise, it was one I recognized, Beedril. I shuddered at the distant memory of being on the receiving end of a pin missile attack by a swarm of them when I had accidentally wandered into their nest.

Shinji finally broke eye contact and glanced over at Iemon before turning to the bug pokemon. He chuckled and nodded to Torterra. "We're proving a point here."

"Terra!" The continent pokemon nodded in understanding and glared at the flying annoyance in front of it. Armani wasted no time in calling out her first attack. Thinking she would be gaining the advantage her eyes widened in horror as Shinji turned away to lock eyes with me again.

Torterra slammed his foot into the ground sending four giant thorn covered vines shooting from the ground directly beneath the Beedril. The vines grew rapidly and almost immediately trapped the bee in a web of poisonous thorns.

Torterra then began to glow a bright neon green and Armani watched in a mix of fascination and fear as her loyal Beedril screeched out in pain before going limp. His eyes were swirled indicating he was knocked out. He hadn't even managed to use one attack, and Torterra hadn't even moved from his original position on the field.

The six trainers we all forgot were watching began to murder and clap while Armani gasped in disbelief at what had just happened. "Who are you?" She whispered.

* * *

"I am Shinji Aguri, future Sinnoh Champion." I didn't understand the amount of pride I felt watching Armanis face pale at his declaration. The rest of the group seemed just as stunned. Iemon was the first to recover and he jumped in front of Shinji and demanded, "battle me!"

Shinji glared at him and turned back to me before he said simply. "No."

"What? Come on!" Ignoring his rant, shinji walked up to a still silent Armani and snatched the box of medicine from her hands, replacing it with both his and my bags. Without a word he grabbed our map that she had handed out and my hand, before he began to drag me through the jungle and away from the rest of the group.

Too nervous to speak, I simply let my fingers lace with Shinjis and allowed him to drag me to wherever we were going. I could feel his body relaxing as I gently rubbed his hand with my thumb, taking in the feeling of being able to calm the beast that was a furious Shinji. But one thought kept going through my mind and I couldn't shake the strange combination of fear, adrenaline, and excitement this thought was bringing.

Shinji had gotten jealous when I was checking out Iemon. He initiated contact and pulled not my hand, but my whole body to his side. Then he challenged the captain because he knew I needed my medicine. Even now, he's clutching my hand like he's scared I'll let go. What is happening between us?

**XxX**

**Hey monsters! So, what do you think of Iemon? BTW it's pronounced (ee-mon). Okay so if you need help imagining him, I'm picturing him looking like a mixture of Sting and Jellal from Fairy Tail.**

**If you haven't guessed yet, he will be Shinjis love rival.**

**Now for this week's question...**

**Should Hikari catch a pokemon to send to Renji? Or should Shinji catch a pokemon causing an awkward and hilarious scene between himself and Hikari?**

**Also...**

**Choose (only) three things you'd like to see at the first Bazaar!**

**.fire dancer**

**. magician**

**.clowns**

**. strong man**

**.trapeeze**

**. beast tamer**

**. freak show**

**.carnival**

**.flufffy scenes**


	21. chapter 21

**Hey monsters! As promised, here is another chapter for this week (to make up for skipping last week)**

**So I need to note**

***earth manipulation* It's not a real ability but I made it up for Torterra for this fanfiction.**

**What it does: it allows Torterra to manipulate any terrain, grass, dirt, rocks, trees, etc.**

**This chapter is dedicated to all of my readers! I love y'all thank you for your continued support.**

**Now, onto the story!**

* * *

**XxX**

* * *

_Why? Why am I so pissed off?! Why did I lose my cool with the trial captain? Why the fuck am I still holding Hikaris hand?! _

It had been six hours since we left Armanis base camp and neither of us had spoken a word. I knew Hikari was being quiet because she knew I was mad. How did I know she knew I was mad? Well, she's not just holding my hand. She's rubbing it with her thumb trying to calm me down. _Why is it working? _

It was nearing sunset and I decided we needed to find a place to sleep. I saw a small clearing and drug Hikari over to it before forcefully yanking my hand from hers and releasing Torterras pokeball.

I heard the small whining sound she made when I let her go and it did nothing for me except cause more confusion. Ignoring the burning sensation in my chest, I looked at my faithful starter with a softness in my eyes reserved only for him.

"We're out here without our bags. It's getting late, can you build me a tent?" He's the only pokemon i have that I would ask before issuing an order. He's been with me for eleven years, he's more than earned my trust and respect and he damn well knows it.

"Terra!"

I was glad he seemed eager to help. He looked at Hikari a little confused and I just shrugged my shoulders in response. This asshole smirked at me before he raised his back left leg and stomped it.

Using the move Grass Knot along with his earth manipulation ability, he began crafting our sleeping arrangements. Hikari watched in amazement as the ground changed from dirt and pebbles to a square of super soft and squishy dark green moss.

I smirked as her eyes grew wide watching thornless vines grow up from the ground and twisted until they connected to form an igloo shaped shelter. With a huff, Torterra noddedd to me in a motion that said he was finished.

I walked over to inspect the dewlling he had created. It was sturdy with no gaps between the vines. There was a small hole at the top for ventelitation as well. I looked inside and saw the still dirt covered area in the corner he had left for us to use for a fire and nodded in approval before returning him to his pokeball.

I walked back out and decided to go get some firewood and look for something to eat when I heard Hikari speak up for the first time since we left.

"S-shinji?" _Why does she sound so scared of me?_

"Yeah?" I said trying to sound nonthreatening as I could. I didnt know why she sounded so frightened. Didn't she know I'd never hurt her?

"Are, are you mad at me? I'm sorry for making you lose your temper back there I just-"

_So that's what this is about._ I didn't notice until that moment that in my aggravation, I had basically ignored her and her physical attempts at calming me all day. I cut her off and grabbed her hand pulling her into my chest.

My body was moving on its own. The minute I saw tears in her eyes while she apologized for no reason, I felt myself wrap my arms around her pulling her close to me as physically possible.

When I realized what I was doing I felt my cheeks burning in embarrassment. I burried my head into her shoulder and relaxed as her slender arms wrapped tightly around my shoulders. I let my arms slide from her back down to her waist and pulled her closer, if that was even possible.

She responded by sliding her own arms around my neck and pulling my face deep into the nape of her neck. I had a sudden urge to bite her and moved my face up to lay my forehead against hers.

I scrunched my eyes tight and let out a huff. ? "I'm not mad at you Hikari. I'm just, frustrated. You have nothing to apologize for."

"But I-"

"Just, be quiet." I moved my head from hers and pulled it into my chest. My heart was beating a thousand miles a minute and my head was spinning. I mumbled something about finding firewood and released her from my tight hold.

It was harder than I thought it would be to let her go, but I knew I needed to go cool off before I did something to ruin... whatever it was we were. I never cared about anyone but my pokemon before but this girl was doing something to me, and frankly, I was terrified at the unknown feelings swirling in the depths of my very soul.

Turning away before I could change my mind, I left her there at our campsite and ran straight into the woods.

* * *

**XxX**

* * *

_What the hell was that?!_

My body was shaking and my mind was running wild. Confusion didn't even begin to cover what was going through my mind. Shinji just... hugged me!!!

It wasn't a friendly hug either, that was ... I dont even know how to describe it. It felt so right! His muscular arms were warm and hard. I felt like the world didnt matter anymore... I felt safe in his embrace.

_But, it's Shinji?! Why would he do that? He only tolerates me, he can't stand me. What's happening?!_

I wouldn't lie, the feeling of his arms around me was something I wanted to experience again. I loved feeling like I was the only person that mattered to him. Even if I didn't actually matter, he still made me feel like I did.

It had been a long time since I felt any sort of affections for a boy, and the fact that I was starting to fall for Shinji was terrifying.

Was I falling for him? Yeah, there's no denying it. As much as I'd like to pretend I couldnt care less about him, it just isnt true.

It's only been three weeks and I already can't picture traveling without him. But he's Shinji. It's only a matter of time before he breaks my heart. Can I really go through that again?

Hearing the sound of twigs snapping I turned to my left with my hand on Piplups pokeball. Fear washed over me as the bushes just to my left began shaking. I could hear voices and my eyes grew wide at the person who stepped forward.

"What are _you_ doing here?"

**XxX**


	22. chapter 22

**TRIGGER WARNING: NON CON**

* * *

**Hey monsters! Oneesama here with this week's first update!!! So the votes are in and you all choose who would be showing up!**

**I couldn't think of a good song for this chapter so I skipped using one this time. The next chapter will have a song along with some of Hikaris backstory!!!**

**I haven't decided which way I like asking questions better so y'all let me know! Do you like the cliffhangers where you choose what happens at the beginning of the next chapter or do y'all like the random questions I asked in past chapters better?**

**Anyway... I am nervous to see everyone's reaction to this chapter. I will tell you, if you can get through the ugly parts, you'll probably enjoy the end. I hope this isn't too much for you guys.**

**Now, enough chitchat,**

**Onto the story!!!**

**XxX**

* * *

"What are _you_ doing here?" My anxiety went through the roof when I saw who had made the noise. A sudden need to flee filled my senses as I reached back towards my belt for Piplups ball.

The all too familiar brown eyes of the man I'd hoped not to run into burned into me like hot coal. He walked up to meand my hands dropped to my side. I became visibly rigid with nervousness, not that he cared. He walked up to me and wrapped his arms around my waist in a possessive manner. "Looking for you, what else?"

I assumed he was trying to be seductive by the way he was purring, but all it did was make me more uncomfortabl

"Please go away Kengo." I whispered in a pleading voice. I pushed away from him and his face contorted to one of anger.

"Aww come on Hikari, don't be like that..." He spun me around by grabbing my elbow, pulling me forcefully into his arms much to my discomfort. "I missed you."

His hot breath against my neck made me shiver, and not in a good way. My stomack was dropping and I could taste my breakfast coming back up. I couldn't remember being this uncomfortable in a long time and I found myself wishing Sjinji hadn't left.

Jun wasn't around so I could only pray he was sniffing Shinji out. If Shinji saw him, he would probably come back. Right? I tried to wiggle out of Kengo's arms but he only gripped me tighter. "You're not going anywhere." His eyes held malice and I was genuinely afraid of what he might do.

" I've been searching this whole damned island for you, and now that I've found you, I'm not letting you leave me again." His face moved closer to mine and I gasped in fear. _He's going to kiss me!_

Before I had a chance to fight back, his lips were on mine. My mind went completely blank as I felt his lips moving against mine. I tried to toss my head to the side, but the hand that was originally on my waist came up and clamped around the back of my neck, forcing me to stay still.I hated it. I hated him! After all of these years, he still thinks he can control me.

Tears fell down my face as he forced his tongue into my mouth. He tasted like beer and I knew he had come looking for me after a day of bingeing. Guess some things never change.

_Why didn't I call out Piplup? I domt want this! Someone, anyone, please... help me!_

I could feel my vision blurring as the pull on my hair became tighter. Tears were falling freely down my face and my arms were pushing against his chest. Kengo didn't like that I was trying to push him off, I thrashed around in his grip as best I could and was punished with a hard bite to my lips.

Kengo groaned as my blood slipped into his mouth, the metallic copper taste seeming to spur him forward. He started pushing me, trying to lay me on the ground. He backed away to catch his breath, that split second was all I needed.

I let out a blood curdling scream only to be rewarded with a hard slap to the face. "Shut the fuck up Hikari!" Kengo looked at me with fury in his eyes. My vision blurred as I forcefully jerked my head to look up. The sound of a zipper being undone reached my ears. My eyes felt like they were spinning as I tried, but failed to focus on what Kengo was doing.

"Just relax. Once you're mine no one, not even your precious Shinji can keep you away from me." I could hear his shoes on the gravel as he moved in closer to me. I felt his calloused hands roam over my thighs as he slipped in between my legs to force them wider apart.

With one hand he grabbed both of my wrists and pinned them above my head as his other hand roamed down to the waistband of my pants. _This cant be happening! Someone please..._

I closed my eyes in anticipation of the pain to come but was shocked to feel Kengo's weight suddenly lifted from my body. "What the fuck are you doing?!"

The sound of bones cracking could be heard as Shinjis massive fist met Kengo's nose. Blood poured from his face as Kengo glared at him. Without missing a beat, Kengo lunged at Shinji ready to attack.

Tackling the brunette to the ground, Shinji ducked out of the way as blow after blow was dealt from Kengo. Each swing from him was met with one from Shinji, only difference was, Shinji was doing damage while Kengo was just wearing himself out.

The sound of flesh on flesh was signing through the area as Shinji beat Kengo mercilessly. After five minutes, Kengo stopped fighting back and I had to physically stop shinji before he killed him.

"Shinji!" I grabbed his fist that was poised to strike again hoping to pull him from his rage. He turned his glare to me but his eyes immediately softened at the sight of my puffy red eyes and bruised swollen lips.

Relaxing his shoulders, he got off of the now unconscious Kengo that he had been straddling and focused entirely on me. Blood was dripping from his hands and he wore a look of guilt. _Why does he look so culpable?_

"Are you okay Hikari?" He raised his hand to pull me into a hug and finally noticed the crimson liquid pooling at his side. His eyes widened in disgust as he started wiping his hands furiously on his pants.

Once his hands were relatively clean, he pulled me into a tight hug which I melted into. Even with Kengo lying ten feet away, I had never felt safer than I did right then in Shinjis arms. I tried to fight it, but the reality of what had just almost happened hit me like a ton of bricks and felt myself loose control before I finally broke down.

I was sobbing into Shinjis chest, clutching his shirt like a lifeline, like I was terrified he would leave me alone again. I'm not sure what I expected from him, but it certainly wasn't for Shinji to squeeze me closer to him. I definitely didn't expect him to move one of his hands to my head to rub soothing circles on my scalp. I never would've imagined the calming voice he used as he told me everything would be okay. The most confusing for me though was probably his constant apologies.

It wasnt his fault I was too weak to protect myself. _Why didn't I just call piplup out the minute I realized who it was? _

Shinji let out a sigh and moved both of his hands to cup my face. Tilting my face, he forced me to look into his eyes before he used his thumb to wipe away my tears. "I think it's time you told me just what exactly happened between you and him."

I didn't want to relive that part of my life. I had tried so hard to escape it, but Shinji was right. He deserved an explanation, the truth.

Hesitantly, I nodded in silent agreement. "C-can we go s-somewhere else first?"

**XxX**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey monsters! Oneesama back with today's official update!!! So this was supposed to be emotional but it wound up fluffy AF!!!**

**Oh well, we could always use some ikarishipping fluff. Anyway, I lied last chapter, there are probably 3-4 more chapters before we leave Msitu, not 1-2. Sorry about that.**

**I would up splitting this chapter in half because it was getting a bit too long (it's about 2k words as it stand now). The second half is about 2.5k words so I'm going to finish that up before I edit it and post it.**

**Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy hearing this part of Hikaris backstory... This part only talks about Kengo, and it explains ehy he did what he did in the last chapter.**

**Anyway... Enough chitchat, onto the story!!!**

**XxX**

It was nearly ten at night when we finally found another place to set up camp. We were a lot closer to the checkpoint so at least we could sleep in in the morning.

Torterra had built us a new vine tent and this time, he stayed with me while Shinji gathered firewood.

Now I was standing up leaning against the tent while Shinji stacked the wood in a teepee fashion.

I watched him meticulously place fire kindle in the gaps between the wood before he pulled out a lighter and began lighting it in various places.

I was brought from.my thoughts when Shinji suddenly spoke up. "So are you ready to tell me what's going on?"

He didn't look from what he was doing as he spoke to me. Though he asked me, I knew I didn't have a choice in the matter. We were going to talk about this weather I wanted too or not. I figured he was just trying to let me feel like I was in control of the conversation. Thinking about it, I realized it was his way of comforting me through it. It was sweet of him. "Im not sure where to start."

"The beginning is usually a good place." He said with a snort. I glared at him but it only lasted a second. _He's joking with me. He really is trying to make this easier on me._

"Asshole." I said with a smirk. He finally looked at me and, upon seeing my fave, he revealed a smirk of his own. His long violet bangs fell from their usually tied place in his ribbon on the back if his head, covering more of his face than usual. The budding fire cast shadows across his face making his steel grey eyes glow in the nights natural light. _Arceus he looks so good._

"I've been called worse, but coming from you that hurts." He joked in a sensual tone mixed with sarcasm and teasing. _Why does his voice sound so... smooth?_ Standing up, he walked over to me and held his hand out. I looked at it and then at him. Seeing the worried look that looked so wrong in Shinjis eyes, I gently took his outreached welcome and followed him to the fire pit he had built.

I planned on sitting next to him but he surprised me by pulling me into his arms. He sat me on the ground in front of him with my back relaxing against his chest. His left foot was sitting flat with his leg bent while his right leg was stretched out next to mine, and his arms draped loosely around my stomach.

I felt the ground shift a bit when Torterra made the ground under us softer. I smiled at how attentive they were both being. They were both trying so hard to make me feel safe that I nearly cried from appreciation.

It was comfortable and secure. Like I was in a box of protection and nothing could ever reach me there. I sighed in content and relaxed in his embrace for the second time today, before I gathered enough mental strength to begin my not so happy tale.

"I guess it started back when I was twelve. Satoshi and Takeshi had gone back to Kanto and I was off on my first solo journey through Hoenn." A small smile graced my lips as I thought of the freedom I felt those first few weeks in a new region with only Piplup and Bunneary at my side.

"It was nice. But after a few weeks of traveling, I started regretting going alone." His left hand had moved from my stomach and was now gently ghosting his fingers over the exposed skin of my arm. I shivered in delight as an unknown sensation filled my body, making me feel warm and a need to be closer to him. I let out a light '_hmm_' in appreciation of his actions, urging him to continue as I picked up my story.

"Team Magma was running rampant and I had been on the losing end of more than a few battles with their grunts." I waited for an insult that never came. I expected Shinji to berate me for being a useless trainer but he didn't. He simply nodded and pulled me closer to his chest.

Taking a deep breath I continued on. "One night in Petralburgh, I was at the pokemon center and I ran into Kengo." I moved my hand over my stomach and on top of shinjis, rubbing his knuckles and wrist in a similar way to what he was doing to me. I felt him stiffen slightly and a stifled growl was heard coming from his chest. He moved his head and sat his chin on my shoulder, turning so I could feel each of his steady breath on my neck.

" I hadnt seen him in over a year and I was excited to run into him. He **_was_** my best friend at one point. He's always had a crush on me, ever since we were little. It was never a big deal, I would turn him down and he would sulk and then we'd be back to normal. But all that changed after a battle against a team magma grunt."

I shivered involuntarily and Shinji responded by stopping both mine and his caressing by moving both of his hands to wrap tightly around my bust. "And what happened then?" He asked in a husky voice before he burried his nose into my neck and let out a long, hot breath against my skin.

I shivered at the feel. _I'm not going to be able to finish if he doesn't stop... This feels so good, not like earlier... I'm so glad I came with Shinji_. "Mmm, I-he, we were attacked and he was hit by an electric attack. He changed after that, became violent with his pokemon and then with me. He started lying to everyone, saying we were dating. He even told my mom who was happy about it!"

I could feel my anger flaring but that spark was quickly snuffed out when I felt Shinjis grip loosen slightly, only for his left hand to reach up to my cheek. He removed his face from its hiding spot in my neck and turned my face to his.

His eyes were serious and my stomach flipped at the adoration reflected in those stunning coal orbs. "What did he do to you Hikari? Did he hit you?"

"I couldn't bring myself to admit it out loud before, but yes. By the time I was thirteen, I was in a forced and abusive relationship. My mother, thinking Kengo was perfect for me not knowing what I knew about him had come to an agreement with Kengo's father over our relationship. A _monetary_ agreement. So I couldn't just leave. And if I made him mad, which I seemed to do all the time, I would be 'punnished'."

I could feel his grip on my body tighten and I releshed in the feeling. "How did you get away then?"

"I didnt." I laughed bitterly much to both of our surprise. "It was my final grand festival. If I won, I would officially hold the record for most contest wins and get a chance to challenge Daigo."

"The Hoenn champion?"

"Hm. But my opponent in the final round was Kengo. He had mafe sure I knew beforehand that, if it came down to it and we were to battle, he **_would_** win or there would be punnishment for not only me, but my pokemon too. It didn't matter though, even if I had tried to beat him, he purposely made my pokemon sick before the battle and then used a brand new move that I had created against me. We were knocked out before I had time to call a single shot.

"That was when I passed out. I dont know if it was from embarrassment or the fact that I was very sick, I had been sick actually for a few weeks, but i also had bruises from Kengo's punnishment so I wasn't allowed to go to a doctor. When I woke up I broke down and told my mother everything that had been going on.

"She called mine and Kengo's relationship off and blamed it on poor health. He started drinking by then, even though he was only fifteen. He blamed it on being depressed about my failing health. His father bought it and gave us time to return his dowary, but we still havent paid him back everything we owe him. So theres always that looming threat that Kengo will just snatch me away one day."

_There. I did it. I told you everything Shinji. Are you happy now? You probably think I'm pathetic don't you? Arceus why? Why am I so freaking pathetic?!_

My train of thought came crashing to a Gault when Shinji took a deep breath and said the one thing i absolutely did not expect to hear from him.

* * *

**XxX**

* * *

_I'll kill him. I swear to every legendary I will catch him alone and beat him until he begs for death. Then I'll beat him some more! _

How could I let this happen. Everything, all of it was my fault because I had been such a fucking coward back then. _If only I had spoken up maybe none of this would have happened. _

When she admitted that he abused her physically, my heart physically hurt for her. I had to bury my face deeper into her collarbone to hide the furious tears threatening to keave my eyes. Based on what I saw earlier, I highly doubted his physical abuse stopped at hitting.

When she told me about not being able to pay back the money Kengo's family had given in exchange for her acceptance for his proposal, my mind started spinning.

"This is all my fault." The words escaped my mouth before I had a chance to stop them. Hikari scooted away from me a little bit but just enough so he could turn to look at me comfortably.

I noticed she didn't move from my hold and I prayed that she didn't feel uncomfortable with how I was holding her. I couldn't help it. All the pain she felt, all the fear... I wanted to hold her close and fill her body with pleasant touches. If only so she could know she deserved to be treasured like the beautiful rarity that she was.

She didn't deserve to be hurt. How **_dare_** that bastard think he had a right to mar her supple flesh. Just thinking about it made me sick and I knew I couldn't hold back anymore. I had demanded the truth from Hikari and she had given it to me without question.

Didn't she deserve the same from me? No, she deserved better. She shouldn't have to ask me about my past. Before she had a chance to question me, I began my own story. Once everything was out in the open, well... who knows. She'll either accept me for who I am or reject me and all of my flaws like everyone else in my life, even _her_. Either way, there was no turning back now.


	24. Chapter 24

**TRIGGER WARNING: GRAPHIC DEPICTION OF VIOLENCE**

* * *

**Hey monsters!!! I was going to make yall wait til next week but I decided to be nice!!!!! Anyway... Here's Shinjis backstory!!! Just so you don't get confused, the first two scenes in this chapter are flashbacks.**

**Now, onto the story...**

**XxX**

* * *

The sun was shining brightly in an unusually warm November afternoon. A young boy around seven was playing by himself in an empty playground. His dark purple hair clashed with his neon green jacket but he didn't mind as long as he was covered.

His mother had warned him what would happen if anyone ever saw the marks on his arms, so he always had to keep his body covered.

His short buzzcut hair itched and his nose scrunched up at the smell of sweat clinging to his small body. His tiny stomach grumbled and he tried to ignore the all too familiar pain. He hated his life. It was the reason he didnt have any friends.

No one wanted to play with the weird kid who always wore big baggy clothes and smelled. Everyone else had a mommy and daddy who loved them and took care of them. So why didn't he?

He was crying while playing with two action figures. He had them in a situation where the larger doll was sitting on the smaller one, slamming its head repeatedly on the ground.

"You're stupid! And ugly! I hate you! I wish you were never born!" He screamed the things he had come to know as his truth in the dolls voice. Tears dripping down his face he finally ran out of energy and collapsed on the floor.

Why? Why didn't his mommy and daddy love him like all the other kids parents did? What was wrong with him? He wasn't a bad kid. He was quiet and read a lot. He spent most of his time outdoors and out of his parents hair or at school, only coming home for his single daily meal and to sleep.

His weekly bath might have been the issue. Maybe he used too much water or spent too long in there. But it wasn't his fault! Scrubbing a whole weeks worth of dirt and grime takes up a lot of time!

He washed his clothes when he took a bath, using the leftover bath water to wash his clothes that were normally so dirty they were crisper as if starched. He didn't get in trouble at school, ever. So why didn't anyone love him?

Even his big brother Renji. Sure he didn't outwardly do anything to him, but he didn't step up to help him either. He ignored it when he ate big breakfasts with his parents while Shinji stood watching in the corner. He left the house any time he was being punnished, usually for something that Renji did.

"Why doesn't anyone like me? Why won't anyone be my friend?" The young boy cried in anguish as he closed his eyes in frustration.

"I'll be your friend!" The sound of another voice shocked him out of his self loathing and he shot up looking for the source of the voice. His eyes landed on a girl who looked a little bit younger than him.

She had on a sky blue beanie with a Piplup face on it that looked very pretty against her bobcut midnight blue hair. Her big round eyes were the same shade of blue as her hair and she had a smile so big, Shinji thought her face might get stuck.

Without fear, the little girl ran up to him and plopped right next to him on the ground. Her smile vanished and she grabbed his hands in hers."Why are you crying?"

"Who are you?" Her eyes widened as if she didn't realize they didnt know each other. Her smile returned althiugh a lot less pronounced, and she said proudly, "I'm Aneko Aoki!"

"I'm Shinji." The boy responded in a confused tone. He wasn't sure who this Aneko was but the way she smiled at him made him feel something he never felt before. He felt like someone actually cared why he was upset.

"Why are you crying Shinji-kun?" She asked, her serious face returning. He debated with himself for a few minutes before telling her what was on his mind at the moment.

"Nobody wants to be my friend. Nobody wants me around, not even my mommy and daddy." He didn't mean to start crying. Especially in front of a **_girl_**... But he couldn't help it. It hurt admitting he was unloved and unwanted.

His tiny body stiffened as her slender arms captured him in a big bear hug. "I want to be your friend Shinji-kun! Will you let me stay with you?"

* * *

XxX

* * *

"Shinji-kun! What happened?!" It was almost sunset and Aneko knew she would be in trouble for sneaking out. But Shinji called her crying so she went to meet him at their secret spot in the woods.

What she didn't expect was to find was Shinji lying covered in blood and bruised. He was almost unconscious and she knew he needed help. "Shinji-kun, please, tell me what happened."

"M-my m-m-mom she's... He...my d-dad, I ... I'm not allowed to go h-home."

Knowing this was serious Aneko decided to break her father's number one rule. Under NO circumstances was she to ever call the police for any reason. But she didnt really care right then.

The police were there to help people who were in trouble. She didn't know why her daddy was so scared of a cop seeing her, but she knew Shinji needed help or he might die.

She called the cops and rode in the ambulance with him to the hospital. That was the last time she ever saw him.

* * *

**XxX**

* * *

"We spent two years together. Aneko was my only friend, the only person who ever gave a shit about me."

I looked over at Hikari who was crying hysterically at the memories I had just shared. "I was in the hospital for months recovering. I had some cops come ask me about Aneko but I never did find out what happened to her."

I sighed and prepared to tell her the part that would determine whether she'd choose to stay by my side or leave me. "That night, my dad went crazy. Apparently he found out my mother had an affair with someone and..."

I choked. I couldn't keep talking, at least that's what I thought until I felt Hikari wrap her arms around me. "What happened Shinji?"

"I was the product of that affair. He knew about that, I didn't. The issue was, she had gotten pregnant again, and he wasn't going to give her another chance."

I remembered my mom's bloodcurdling screams and my dad's malevolent laughter. A shudder ran down my spine and Hikari climbed tighter to my frame. "He killed her..." I whispered.

Her body stiffened and I forced myself to continue. "He stabbed her to death and then he saw me. He decided if she wasn't around, then there was no reason for me to be either. He stabbed me in the back thirty six times before he fled."

"Oh my ... Shinji..."

"Renji had already left on his journey and when he heard what happened, he came back long enough to dump me on a distant relative. Eventually he came back and tried to play the role of big brother, but by then I had already been on my own journey for over a year.

"We've come to... an understanding over the years, but we will never really be family. I just can't get over it." _There, I said it. She's the only person I've ever told this story to, and Arceus I hope she doesn't leave me now._

I waited for her response but I didn't expect what she asked next. "What happened to your father?"

_She is going to make me tell her. I hoped to avoid this, I don't want her to resent me ..._

"He got away. That's why I refuse to stay in one spot very long. He still wants me dead."

"And your biological father?"

"No idea who he is. If I did I woukd ask him what to do." I knew that now, since she knew the truth she would be pissed at me for not telling her, but once again she shocked me.

"I'm so sorry Shinji." I wasn't done yet and I didn't want to see her reaction to what I was about to say. "That's why I couldn't bring myself to tell you how I felt back then."

Her cheeks turned a light pink color and her eyes grew wide. "W-what do you mean?"

I smirked at her, I couldn't help it. Her embarassed face was too freaking cute to handle to be honest. But I knew I needed to answer her so I went back to a serious tone.

"I wanted you to come with me, you know, after pathetic and the breeder left you. I even went to Hoenn but, my dad caught up with me and I didnt want to put you in danger. I never thought that by leaving you behind that you'd get hurt anyway. Maybe if I would be taken you with me I could've protected you..."

My emotional dam broke and I felt the weight of everything come crashing down on me. I had just confessed to the only other girl I had ever felt anything for. Not only that, I told her about my past and she was still here, holding me like I was some sort of lifeline.

"I never should have left you behind. I'm so sorry." My voice betrayed me. It cracked and the tears I had held in for so long came crashing down. I burried my face in her shoulder, which I realized had quickly become my favorite hiding spot, and wrapped my arms around her.

I was terrified she would let me go, I didn't think I could handle it if she did. "Shinji..."

My heart began to beat rapidly at the sound of her soft voice. I looked up from my safe space and became mesmerized my the tender gaze directed at me. No other words were spoken as she inched her face closer to mine. Instinctively, I pulled her body closer to mine and leaned in to meet her.

Our eyes closed slowly as the gap between us closed. Finally my lips met hers and I swear on everything that is holy, in that blissful instant, my life changed.

The kiss started gentle, but so many emotions could be felt that I thought my brain would explode. Her lips were so soft and I felt myself becoming braver, raising my hand to caress her back. She mewled in approval causing sparks to shoot from up my spine.

My tongue swiped at her lips while I let another groan pass my own. I begged her for entrance and Hikari gave in to my pleading. She tilted her head to the side giving me better leverage for my tongue to sweep inside to swirl alongside her own. Her taste was citrusy sweet and cool which almost reminded of speariment with a hint of grapefruit, causing my lips to tingle from the sweet and fresh taste assaulting my mouth.

I never could have dreamed this would be the result of my revealing my past, but I wasnt complaining in the slightest. Cursing my need for oxygen, I reluctantly broke our kiss and rested my forehead against hers.

Staring into her half-lidded darkened eyes, I couldnt and press the swell of pride I felt in my chest as she spoke in a breathy voice. "If you're sorry, then don't leave me again."

My brain stopped working and my body moved on autopilot as I bent forward to capture her lips again. Neither of us heard the russling in the bushes, nor did we see the red hair pop up from out of no where. We were too lost in our own blissful moment. A moment that would be cut short by the woman hiding in the bushes.


	25. Chapter 25

**Hey monsters! So it hasn't been 5 months but it has been a few weeks! How have you all been? I hope everyone has been having a good time. Happy halloween BTW!!!**

**So this chapter is dedicated to pansy1 !!! I know you've been waiting so I hope I didn't disappoint!!!**

**Now, enough chit chat...**

**Onto the story!!!**

**XxX**

* * *

Walking down the beaten path of the jungle was serine in a way I had never felt before. Last night had been one of the most emotional nights of my life. I found Hikari nearly being raped, finally beat the shit out of Kengo, and confessed all in the span of a few hours.

Not only that, Hikari had opened up to me. I opened up to her, and she didn't leave me. She wanted to stay with me. She returned my affections even with all my fucked up baggage. I just didn't understand it. I had done nothing good in my life. I didn't deserve her acceptance. Her affections, her trust... none of it!

She doesn't understand just how much she affects me just by _breathing_. I didn't think that moving forward, I would ever be able to think about anyone's happiness or well being but hers. Not even my own. If I had to die to keep the smile on her face than so be it.

I never want to see her cry again. I never want to see fear in her eyes or hear her screaming like that ever again. Anyone who threatened her joy would face me. And I'll cut them down!

Last night had been blissful. After an hour of more ... intimate ... confessions and promises, we had spent the night in each other's arms, fully clothed, staring at the stars and talking about out dreams and hopes for the future.

I had been completely open with her and it felt like I had connected with her in a way that just couldn't be replicated physically. It was amazing. Like, she could see into my very soul and I longed to see hers, but... There was something she was still holding back and I was afraid of what it might be.

Not because it would change my feelings. I was afraid because I didn't want her to think she had to hide things from me. I didn't want her to carry her burdens alone anymore. I wanted to be her strength like she was mine.

After the morning sun finally made its apperance, we had quickly finished the trial with smiles on our faces... Yes I was smiling like an idiot ... Everything had been going great! We were on our way to challenge the island guardian pokemon, hand in hand, discussing strategies.

So how did it come to this...?

* * *

**XxX**

* * *

"I wonder what kind of pokemon the Guardian is?" We had made it to the final stretch without further incident. I was actually enjoying myself for once. Teaching Hikari about strategy wasn't as annoying as I thought it would be and she asked good questions.

"It should be grass or bug type since we're on Msitu?" I chuckled at her thoughtful gaze. Reaching over, I grabbed her hand in mine and answered her.

"True, but there's also a possibility they'll be normal, flying, or poison type as well."

"What?! How come?" I was trying to think of a way to explain it when I remembered the Kanto league.

"Just like in gym battles, just because the main focus of an area is one type of pokemon, doesn't mean there won't be other types. Think of it like this.

"Your friend, the breeder-"

"Takeshi." She corrected me and I figured if I wanted to be with her then I should at least attempt to remember her friends' names. So I tried it out...

"Ta-ke-shi... Specializes in rock types right?"

"Yeah?" She wasn't understanding where I was going with this, so I continued explaining.

"But he also has a Goalbat and Crowbat."

"Yeah...?" She really was cute when she was confused. I almost didnt want to finish explaining just so she would keep the adorable quizzical look on her face But I figured I could tease her another time when we didn't have an important battle approaching.

"Both bats are psychic types but survive in caves which are hunted for rock types, not psychic." The look of realization that crossed her face made my insides squirm. Why had i never noticed just how delightful her overly exaggerated facial expressions were?

"Oh! Okay, that actually makes a lot of sense. I never thought of that before..." She looked down after saying that, almost like she expected me to scold her. It made me mad to think she must be so used to being berated that she felt it was normal.

It was going to take time but I swore that no matter what it took, I would teach her to demand respect. I would show her she deserved nothing but love and understanding and I would give it to her unconditionally the way she had always given me her kindness.

"Most people don't, that's why I told you. I know you do performances mostly, but having a strategy no matter what comes at you is important to know as a trainer."

The smile that lit up her face was stunning. It made me proud to know it was me who made her lips curve in happiness, and I knew I wanted to see her smile always.

"So then, if we're both using one pokemon, we need to plan for an attack from any of those typings." I watched in quiet amusement as she thought aloud. "Based on the information we have, it's a large pokemon that lives on and under the ground. We can probably rule out flying types."

"That's right." I said and she beamed at me in glee. I smiled back and added... "You figured that out faster than I thought. What else are you thinking?"

An aura of confidence fell over her and she continues, seeming eager to hear my approval.

"Armani had purple and green pokeballs. So I'm thinking she has poison and grass types." She looked at me for reassurance in her thinking and I nodded.

"Go on..."

"So either she has those because they prepare you for battle with the Guardian, or she has them because their typing is better against those types. I'm leaning towards the former."

"Interesting." She looked nervous for a moment and I squeezed her hand as a show of support. "I agree, it's a good theory. Let's devise a base plan for a poison/grass type and a backup plan for bug/normal types."

Letting go of my hand, she jumped into my arms for a hug and giggled madly. I couldn't help the laugh that escaped my lips. Her childish antics were just too cute for me. After breaking the hug I laced my hand in hers again and we ran as fast as we could to the trial captains meeting point, unaware that our lighthearted and plesent afternoon was soon to come to a crashing hault.


	26. Chapter 26

**Hey monsters!! Oneesama back with another update!!! Anyway... things are going to start picking up now and I hope everyone enjoys the upcoming plot twists in the next arc!!!**

**AiraXue I know you've been waiting for some action so here's a sneak peek lol!!!**

**I'm super hype to write everything and cant wait to read all of your comments!!!**

**Speaking of reading, that's enough talk from me. Let's get on with the story!!!**

**XxX**

* * *

There was so much blood. My ears were ringing and evertthing around me was fuzzy. All I could focus on was how broken Shinji looked laying unconscious on top of me. It all happened so fast I wasn't quite sure what exactly happened.

One minute, we were battling against the island captain and the next, all hell was breaking loose. Let's go back about thirty minutes...

* * *

**XxX**

* * *

We finally made it to the cave we were supposed to be at, at around one in the afternoon. We would've gotten here sooner, but we had stopped for a little while to eat and discuss different strategies.

Standing at the caves entrance was a very unhappy looking Armani. I started to shrink under her judgemental glare until I felt Shinji wrap his arm around my waist, pulling me into his side. "Well, well, well. I've gotta say, I didn't expect you two to be the first to show up."

"What's that's supposed to mean?!" I heard myself yell before I had a chance to stop myself. She shot me a condescending smirk and laughed at my distress.

"Based on that big ol box of pills you made your partner fight for, I figured you'd slow Mr champion here down." My eyes grew wide and I felt tears begin to firm. She wasn't _wrong_... If Shinji was traveling alone or with anyone else, he probably would've finished by now. "I..."

I found myself at a loss for words and felt the tears start to leave my eyes. I was ready to take her verbal assault if it meant Shinji could progress, but he had a different thought completely.

"The fact that you would think that just shows how incredibly ignorant you are." I gasped in awe that he would say that. I mean, I had heard him be rude to an elder, but I never expected him to disrespect a trial captain in a region where he knew no one.

Armani seemed to be as shocked as me, the difference was, I was nervous while she immediately got pissed off. "Excuse me?"

"Shinji, it's okay." I cut in hoping to ease the tension between them. We needed to battle her to pass the first stage of the trial, getting into a fight with her over me of all things probably wasn't in Shinjis best interest. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) he was having none of it and silenced me with one of his infamous stern yet gentle glares reserved solely for me.

"No it's not Hikari. I'm getting really tired of people expecting you to fail. And as for you..." Shinji turned his gaze back to Armani and growled, "either battle us or move aside so we can finish this damn trial and get off of this Mew damned island!"

I was caught between feeling embarrassed, concerned, and astounded at Shinjis declaration while Armani seemed furious. I was worried she wouldn't let us participate further but she seemed eager to 'teach Shinji a lesson'. I felt myself cringe at the sick satisfaction I had knowing Shinji was fixing to make a fool out of her.

"Fine! Just because you beat my Beedril doesn't mean you'll beat me again. This time, I'll show you what it takes to actually be a champion. Florbit, Xatu, let's go!"

In a basic flash of white light, two pokemon emerged. Xatu I recognized. It's large green head was turned slightly leaving it's creepy black eyes staring at me. The other pokemon was one I had never seen before.

It was a tall rabbit, yellowish green in color, with wooden looking horns that had Roseburg growing from them. It stood on its hind legs and reminded me of a male grass type Lopbunny with the way it's ears hung and it's fur was patterned. I thought it was beautiful and I decided to take a gamble.

"Volkit, standby for battle!" When I heard Shinji call his pokemon out I decided to do the same. I really hoped I wasn't making a mistake by doing this.

"Colrow, spotlight!" In a flash of rainbow light and mist, my adorable eagle chick flew out gracefully landing with a pose. Shinji and I met eyes and with a nod, the battle began.

* * *

**XxX**

* * *

"Xatu use future sight, Florbit, grass pledge!" Armani wasted no time in calling out her first attacks. Quite unlike any other region where challengers took the first move, I wasn't sure if this was the norm in Afini or of she was disrespecting me as a challenger.

Either way I didn't like it. "Colrow, use dig to dodge!" I heard Hikari call a defensive move, just like we discussed. Her voice brought my focus back and I was able to put my anger aside and focus on the battle.

"Volkit use wild charge on that rabbit!" I called out with confidence. Immediately, Volkits violet body became surrounded in a crackling aura of lightning. With a wicked laugh, he rushed forward so fast he looked like a golden flash of light.

With the power of electricity covering his body, Armani watched in horror as my stealthy felinesque slammed into her grass type with so much force it was slammed into a nearby tree that cracked in half due to the impact."Oh no Florbit! Are you okay?"

"Now colrow!" I felt a twinge of pride when Hikari took advantage of Armanis distracted state. I watched as the sleepy looking bird stood staring mindlessly at Hikari. The ground directly beneath Xatu began to crumble and rise up until a bright light erupted from beneath the earth; crashing into the dazed psychic type, it sent the bird flying.

It crashed right next to where Armani was sitting with her Food but. The sight of her second pokemon being attacked brought her back to reality and she cursed herself for being so easily distracted.

"Shit! Xatu, are you okay?" After checking that her pokemon could continue she glared at us. "Both of you, get them!"

"Colrow use Ariel ace on Florbit!" I heard a slight panic in Hikaris voice and I scooted over to her calmly. Wrapping my hand around her waist, I have her a soft smile before calking out my own counter.

"Volkit, get rid of that stupid bird with thunder fang!" I smirked inwardly knowing that this could very well be the end of the battle already when a sudden movement caught my eye.

Before anyone knew what was happening, the entire cave began to collapse around us. I pulled Hikari closer to me and looked around for a safe space and thats when I saw a woman with red hair and a pokemon I had never seen before.

**BOOM!!!**

I didn't have time to try and question the woman, ir even announce her presence because the second we locked eyes, her pokemon attacked. "HIKARI MOVE!"

The walls began to crumble and I realized the cave collapse was her doing. I didn't know who she was but I didnt care. All I knew was I had to protect Hikari.

"What's happening?!" I heard Armani screaming as she clutched her pokemon for dear life. Ignoring her, I turned to Hikari, snatched her pokeball from herand wrapped my arms around her.

"Colrow, Volkit return!" I quickly called both pokemon back and put their balls in my pocket. Pushing our way to a corner, I wrapped one arm tightly around Hikaris lower back and the other underneath her head.

Shielding her body with mine, I ignored the pain from the falling rocks and boulders."Hikari, stay under me, I'll protect yo- AAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!"

I had never been so thankful to be on the receiving end of pain before. Whatever hit me wasn't a falling stone, it was celebrate and more forceful than anything I had felt prior. The pain was intense and I felt my vision blurring.

_No! I can't pass out, not until Hikari is safe_! Thankfully, the sound of banging ceased and the crumbling cave was regaining some semblance of normalcy. Looking at Hikari with glazed eyes, I made sure she was unharmed before I felt my vision finally faulter. The sound of her screaming voice was all I heard as everything faded away. "SHINJI!!!"

**XxX**


	27. Chapter 27

**Hey monsters!!! Oneesama back with another update! So here's a closer look into Team Havoc and their dastardly plan. I decided to go ahead and end Hikari and Shinjis time on Msitu here because I couldn't think of anything else I wanted to happen for right now.**

**Anyway here's to hoping you like what I've written!! Now, onto the story!!!**

**XxX**

* * *

The sound of clanking heels echoed throughout the nearly empty hallway. A young woman of nineteen walks alone through the corridor of a hollowed out mountain with a clipboard in her hands.

Her strawberry blond hair was pulled into a tight bun, mixed with her squared greenish black glasses and steel grey uniform, she looked slightly like a librarian.

Her nerves were shaking because she knew she fucked up big time. Her mission was to observe, stall, and eventually infiltrate the young princes travels. But when she realized the boy was progressing faster than anticipated, she took matters into her own hands to slow him down.

Unfortunately for her, Titus wouldn't see it that way. She knew the moment the boy threw himself on the girl to protect her that she was in for a punishment when she made it back to the base.

When she finally arrived to the Masters office, she swallowed hard before knocking and entering the room. Being in this office reminded you that you were indeed inside of a mountain rather than hiding in a building.

It was like standing inside of a cave. Beams of stone jutted from the ground upwards meeting the dripping limestone that pointed down from the 'ceiling'. A small natural hot spring was in the center of the room while the rest of the stone had been carved to look like furniture.

There were cases of weapons on display and a giant computer set up took up an entire wall. It reminded her of the secret hideout in a comic she read as a child called ZubatMan*. If she were there under better circumstances, she may have allowed herself to marvel in the awe of the place... But a stern voice brought her crashing back to the reality of how serious her situation was.

"Agent Alpha, explain yourself. Now!" She hadn't even realized he was watching her the entire time she had been there. To her left near the hot spring was a small ledge that she knew was used as an emergency exit.

On that ledge stood the intimidating figure of her fearsome leader Titus. The fact that he hadn't struck her the moment she walked in meant she had a chance to explain, a rare honor in the Masters presence. She thanked every legendary before praying she would be spared from the man's wrath."You said to slow the young prince down if he progressed too quickly, so I did."

"I said slow him down! Not put him in a coma!" She flinched at the force of his words. In one swift movement, he had a pokeball in hand and in a flash of light, he and his pokemon stood mere inches from her face.

"He wasn't injured that badly." She whimpered peeling her eyes away from the sadistic man she called her leader. She knew better than to look him in the eye. She had made the mistake once as a child and still had the scars of punishment ten years later.

He wasn't always bad though, only when you broke the rules. If you followed them, he treated you like you were his own child, with love and care. "I dont care! You know how important he is to my plan! We can not allow any harm to befall him."

She longed to stay on the receiving end of his good graces so she dropped to her knees in a deep apologetic bow. "The blue haired vixen he's been traveling with seemed to have everything under control."

After a moment of silence she felt him pull her up from the floor and dust her off. He used his finger to tilt her chin so she was looking directly into his steel grey eyes. He flashed her a dangerous smirk and brushed his long bangs back before warning gravely. "For your sake, she better."

"Y-yes sir." He stepped away from her and handed her the clipboard she had dropped and motioned for her to continue with her regular reports.

"A-ah y-yes um...you asked for an update on Project Chaos? Um... everything is set on Bara and Ngurumo islands." When she glanced up to see him nodding his head in approval she added "Should we proceed with phase one?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment before smirking. "Yes. Once the laboratory has been captured, begin sending your agents to Kazan and have Agent Beta and his team head to Shujaa."

"Yes sir!" She exclaimed. She turned to leave but stopped in a cold sweat when his chilling voice reached her ears.

"Oh and Alpha,"She turned slowly to face the ferocious face of Titus and gulped loudly. "Don't disappoint me."

"Understood sir."

* * *

**XxX**

* * *

Everything happened so fast I didn't have time to react. Shinji saved me and both of our pokemon. If it wasn't for him..."Shinji... please wake up."

"Shut up stupid girl. He'll be fine." My head snapped in the direction of the voice I least wanted to hear. After the chaos in the cave, Armani had helped me carry Shinji to her hut that was surprisingly nearby.

As much as I coukdnt stand the woman, she was the island captain and Shinji was badly wounded, so I reluctantly took her help.

If you could even call it that. All she had done was lead me to her home and allowed me access to her emergency trauma supplies. It was inly with the help of Piplups bubble beam and scaled along with Lemflur, who miraculaiously learned sweet scent to help with the pain, that I was able to get him to a stable and bandaged up condition.

It had taken hours for me to stop the bleeding, stitch him up and wrap in in bandages. She wasn't even in the room. She had no idea how bad his injuries were and had no rite to belittle his condition. "What makes you so sure?"

"He just got knocked out, it's no big deal for a future champion like him." Talking crap to me I could take, and I'm sure if Shinji was awake he would tell her off. But he was basically comatose and hearing her sarcasm snapped something in me.

"His back was cut open so deep I had to put in almost three hundred stitches and he was hit in the head with a two ton boulder!" I yelled causing her to flinch. "He's lucky to be alive!"

Her momentary shock at my outburst was replaced by anger that I could see rolling off her in waves. "Not everyone is weak like you so obviously are. Don't try to play me. Without your little champion by your side, you're just another pathetic little girl trying to make a name for herself."

I wouldn't admit it but hearing that really hurt. Shinji was right when he said everyone looked down on me. But I couldn't stand the thought of people looking down on Shinji because of me. "Why are you so mean?"

"The Afini league was designed for the strongest of the strong trainers only. But lately, more and more weak excuses for trainers like yourself, keep arriving to challenge the trials like they're just another challenge. You dont show this league proper respect because you're a has been coordinator, NOT a pokemon trainer!"

"H-how did you," tears were threatening to fall but I refused to cry. Not in front of her.

"You're easy enough to find information on little miss princess of Sinnoh." She replied sarcastically.

"You don't know anything about me." I argued but she didn't seem to care. Instead she pulled two smooth rocks with natural green gemstone designs in them.

"Don't need to. Now since the cave leading to the totem pokemon has been destroyed you can't finish your trial." She looked at the stones in disgust before tossing (throwing) them to (at) me.

"BUT, per league rules, you and Mr champion over there got there first. Because of this technically you two pass the trial and I have to give you both this trials offering."

"Oh wow thank you." I said with so much sarcasm I could've sworn Shinji smirked even though he was passed out. Armani however looked annoyed beyond belief and shrugged.

"Trust me, if it were my decision you'd get nothing. Now take Mr champion and get out of my house!" She stormed towards the door and flung it open standing with her finger pointed out.

"But, where are we going to go?" I asked feeling a strange sense of panic.

"Not my problem. I gave you your prizes now get out." Rolling my eyes, I decided she wasn't worth dealing with anyway. I gathered all of mine and Shinjis belongings before propping his body on my back and walking out of the makeshift house.

"Whatever. Just tell me which direction the docks are in." I growled as I crossed the bamboo threshold.

"South, about an hour's walk. Now go." She slammed the door causing me to stumble a bit. Groaning in annoyance, I shifted Shinjis weight and began my track south. My destination? Nagrumo island.


	28. Chapter 28

**Hey monsters!!! Bonus update time!!! I wrote this and couldn't find a way to make it longer so I figured why not just do a bonus mini chapter. So here it is!!!**

**Hope you guts like it the next full length chapter probably won't be done today. Now, enough from me onto the story!!!**

**XxX**

* * *

The trip to Ngurumo had been uneventful, much to my pleasure. By the time we arrived to the island, Shinji still hadn't woken up so I prepared to set up camp.

Some strange alarm went off and a woman with bright yellow hair appeared with an adorable goat looking pokemon by her side. She introduced herself as professor Marula and her pokemon was called Gostrike, an electric fighting type.

After explaining my situation to her, she beamed in recognition and invited us back to her lab where two very familiar faces were waiting.

* * *

**XxX**

* * *

When Professor Marula said two unknown trainers were on the island uninvited, my mind immediately went to team rocket. I called pikachu to my side and prepared for the worst. But when she returned, a familiar voice brought me down from my adrenaline induced high and I smiled brightly. "Sakura, Satoshi! I missed you guys so much!"

"Hikari!" My blond haired girlfriend was the first to run to her, her arms wide prepared for an embrace. She stopped suddenly and gasped so I walked over to make sure my sister like friend was okay.

What I didn't expect was to see the beaten up figure of my old rival slumped on her back. Immediately I ran to her side taking the unconscious boy from her shoulders and taking his full weight on myself. "What is Shinji with you? And what happened to him?"

We started walking to the infirmary while the professor headed back to the research room. Hikari was banged up too but she looked fine, shaken, but fine. "We were attacked during our trial on Msitu island."

"Attacked? By who?! Are you okay?" Sakura started panicking and I felt my grip on Shinji tighten. If he was traveling with Hikari I could only think of one person who could be after them.

Over the years, Shinji and I had lost touch but Renji had become a close friend of Takishi and in turn, a great friend of mine. I knew all about Shinjis psychotic ex step father even though I had NEVER told anyone.

I wondered if Hikari knew of the danger she may be in and I found myself for the first time debating what was right and what was wrong in my head.

"Yeah im fine, Shinji saved me but..." Hikaris sad voice broke me from my internal struggle and I set it on the back burner for the time being.

"Let's get him inside the infirmary." I said with finality.

* * *

**XxX**

* * *

"So you're saying you two have been traveling together this whole time and you didnt tell me?!" I didn't expect Satoshi to be so upset about me traveling with Shinji.

To be honest I thought he knew and I thought Satoshi wanted to be friends with shinji at one point. He didnt hate the guy so why was he making such a fuss about them traveling together?"I assumed Sakura would've told you."

"Yeah well she didn't." His dejected face made me feel guilty for a moment. I haven't even told him about the most recent progress in Shinji and Is relationship. If he was this mad now, how would he react if he knew?

"Do you have a problem with me traveling with him?" I loved Shinji. I wouldnt admit it out loud yet but it was true. And the thought of my ,brother, not approving of him tore me up inside.

"Well no, but... It's, _Shinji_. I thought he hated traveling with people." Oh thank Mew, he was worried about Shinji being an ass. Not disapproval.

"It's... complicated. But yeah, he's actually been really good to me." The look of shock that crossed his face made me giggle.

"I cant imagine that." He said with a snort. Sakura just laughed and smacked him playfully on the shoulder.

"From what Hikari has told me, Shinji is really sweet, well to her anyway." I was thankful she cut in because although Satoshi looked like he wanted to argue, he simply crossed his arms and began to grumble. "Yeah right."

"Shinji is kind to me Satoshi. He protects me and tells people off when they're rude to me. He even gave Piplup a TM disc and has been teaching him new moves! He's not as bad as you remember Satoshi." I reasoned.

His face took on that of someone trying to use the restroom and I stifled a laugh. After a moment of thinking, he smiled brightly and slung his arm over my shoulder. "Well as long as he treats ya good I'm fine with it. Shuguru had his healing pokemon look over Shinji and they said he should be fine by tomorrow, so let's go get something to eat!"

I smiled in relief and decided Satoshi was right. I needed to relax and get ready for the unavoidable blowout between the two most important men in my life that was sure to take place upon Shinjis awakening. Nodding in agreement, I grabbed Sakuras hand and followed the Snorlax of a man i called my brother down to the mess hall.


	29. Chapter 29

**Hey monsters!! So I lied lol. I didn't think I'd be done until tomorrow but I managed to get it done earlier than I planned.**

**So yeah Oneesama here with an extra update!!! Hope you guys enjoy and I'd like to hear your theories on where the plot twist is going!!**

**Now, onto the**

**story!!!**

**XxX**

* * *

As sunlight crept through the curtains of my temporary room, I felt myself wake up in a strange mood. Sakura was sleeping soundly cuddled into my chest and I smiled warmly at her.

Sakura was a great person. She was smart, beautiful, and goofy as hell. She was my best friend and my rock so I was glad she would be here for this.

It had been years since Shinji and I crossed paths. Even though I spent every holiday with his brother, he never showed up. I remember the first time I witnessed Shinji deliberately skip Renjis birthday.

I was so furious that he was in town but refused to see his brother. Renji stopped my plan of dragging him there by explaining their tremulous past. That's when I began to understand.

Shinji didn't keep people away from him because he wanted to. He may have fooled himself into thinking that, but I knew he just didn't want anyone else to get hurt because of him.

I would admit that made me gain a lot more respect for him. I also realized why he was the way he was and I came to accept that, although our ideals were different, Shinji wasn't necessarily a bad guy.

But that didn't change the fact that I was worried about Hikari traveling with him. If he hadn't been completely honest with her, she was in even more danger than she could ever realize. Renjis father was not a man known for his compassion and Shinji was a constant target.

Carefully I peeled Sakura off of me and got up from the bed. I quietly got dressed in a pair of blue jeans, a grey tee shirt and red bots and jacket that Sakura had gotten me for our anniversary, oh and my red and gray baseball cap my mom had given me and headed to Hikaris room to check on her.

I wasn't really surprised to find her missing and immediately headed to the infirmary where I knew she would be. Just like I thought, Hikari was slumped over the hospital style bed. She had crawled into the bed and was wrapped around Shinjis now sleeping form.

I assumed he was sleeping and not unconscious because he was laying on his side facing Hikari. One of his arms was under her head like a pillow and tangled in a mess of blue hair. His other arm was resting on the thigh of her leg that was hiked up on his side. She had one hand under his shirt resting on his stomach and I wondered just what kind of relationship my old rival had with my 'sister'.

Deciding to play the role of big brother, I made a big fuss of my entrance by slamming the door. Coughing loudly I couldn't help but smirk at Shinji as he jumped up with his fists clenched looking for danger. "What the hell? What do you want?!"

"Is there a reason you and my sister are all over each other?" I asked in a serious tone. Hikari must have been exhausted because she didn't stir when Shinji pulled her off of him, gently to my surprise, and got out of bed.

"Thats none of your business." A typical response from Shinji. But it didn't change the facts. Hikari was in danger with him and I needed to know what his intentions were. I wouldn't let him put one of my closest friends lives in danger.

"I think it is." He ignored me and began going through his bag. I waited as he got dressed in a pretty edgy outfit. I guess Hikari went for the bad boy type. He had on a pair of tight black pants that were tucked into a pair of black leather combat boots. He wore a tight fitting turtleneck sleeveless shirt under a black leather jacket that had silver spikes on it. I noticed when he pulled his long violet hair into a ponytail that his ears and eyebrow were pierced with black studs and he had a tattoo along the length of his left arm.

Even for a guy he was good looking, I'd admit. He looked like one of those J Pop artists from out of Jhoto and I started worrying he had grown to be a playboy like those idols. It was clear to me that the two had some sort of romantic relationship going on and I didn't want him hurting Hikari.

Once he was dressed he motioned to the door so I followed him out of the room and outside to the training field. I started thinking about how I wanted to approach this conversation with Shinji but he beat me to the punch. "Since when is troublesome your sister?"

"Since always. Obviously she's not my blood sister but I love her like she was." His eyebrow quirked up at my response and I felt myself grow frustrated at the look he was giving me. "Obviously." he said sarcastically.

"Look loser," he added with a serious tone, "believe it or not, I don't need nor am I looking for your approval. Hikari has made it clear to me that she returns my affections and I won't let you or anyone else get in my way."

"Your affections? So you do love her then. Right?"

"What do you think?" The amount of venom in his voice was actually scary and I started stressing about how I was going to tell him the truth. The real truth.

"I think you have a lot to tell her if you really feel that way." His eyes narrowed and I gulped. This was the tricky part. Shinji didn't know I knew about his past, but I needed to know if he had been honest with Hikari. Truthfully I didn't have a problem with him pursuing her. In fact, I thought he was a great match for her.

He would'nt ever cheat on her, I hoped, since he couldn't stand people in general. He was strong, I wouldn't deny that. I may not agree with his training methods but i would say… he trained just as hard as he pushed his pokemon so I knew physically, he could protect her better than anyone. He was smart in every sense of the word. He could come up with strategies for any situation on a dime. He had survived a solitary nomadic lifestyle for years and would know what to do in any emergency. And from what I understood, e was selfless. He chose to live alone and keep everyone safe. He chose to become stronger to avenge his mother one day. He would do anything to keep the few people he loved safe so I secretly hoped Hikari was one of those people.

But as his glare became suspicious, I Knew I had to be honest with him if I wanted him to open up to me. "Look Shinji, Iknow about your dad. And Know he's still after you. I haven't told anyone but I am worried that if HIkari stays with you shes going to get hurt."

His already harsh glare turned dark and i felt the air grow thick with tension. "When did that piece of shit tell you?!" He screamed at me. I know he would be mad and I knew I had to keep going. If I could just get him to ask that one question then maybe this would be easier.

"A few years ago. I'm sorry Shinji but you've gotta understand where im coming from." He didn't ask what I hoped so I tried reasoning with him instead.

"You think I haven't thought about that?! Every second I'm with her I worry that something will happen to her. But you need to understand that I would rather die than let anyone hurt her." The conviction in his voice told me that he was being honest. I didn't need to hear him say it because I could see it in the way his emotions displayed themselves openly for the world to see. He loved her.

"Let me help you Shinji." He wasn't going to ask and this wasn't going to be easy, but I needed to do this. This was probably the last time we would be alone together and I needed him to know the truth before it was too late.

"Fuck you Satoshi." He turned towards the lab and began to walk away. I briefly considered just letting him go but I knew I needed to be a man and face this head on. Jogging behind him I called out. "There's something else I haven't told you."

He stopped abruptly and turned to me with a dejected look I had never sen on him before. He looked so lost and It seriously made me upset. Shinji wasn't supposed to look like that, he was supposed to be fierce and strong. "I highly doubt I want to hear it."

"Don't you want to know why Renji thought it was okay to tell me about this?" I asked hoping to easily lead into the conversation I so desperately needed to have with him.

"I assume it's because he's an ignorant asshole." I couldn't help but snort at his reply, gaining me a smirk from the slightly older man in front of me. I swallowed hard and took a deep breath. It was now or never and I couldn't keep this from him for another seven years.

"Actually, he told me because... I know who your _real_ father is."


	30. Chapter 30

**Hey monsters!!! Oneesama here with another update... WARNING: this chapter is rated M for lemon-y scenes!!! That means 18 (if you want to skip lemon just scroll until you see the XxX and read after it)**

**Now then... Onto the story!!!**

**XxX**

* * *

Walking back to the infirmary my mind was going crazy with emotions I didn't know I could feel at once. I was thankful to find Hikari waiting for me and I nearly broke down when she sensed my sour mood.

I didn't have to say a word to her and she knew what I needed. Grabbing my hand, she led me to the room she had been assigned. Once we arrived, she took my bag and hers and set them on the chair in the corner of the room before embracing me in a deep hug.

I melted into her arms and allowed her to lead me to the bed. Once we sat down, she pulled my head into my favorite hiding spot in the crook of her neck and started playing with my hair softly.

Her fingers on my scalp calmed me and I felt the unease began to leave my body. "Do you wanna talk about it?" Her soft voice pulled me from the depths of my mind. Slowly, I looked up into her eyes and nodded.

It was strange. I knew I was looking more weak and pathetic than I ever had, but with Hikari I didnt mind showing my vulnerability. She wanted to help me and I wanted to let her. I hadn't felt that ever before and it scared me. But i wouldn't fight it.

I didn't deserve her but I wouldn't turn away help from my own personal angel. "Satoshi and I had a talk." Her eyes softened and i felt my affection for her grow. She truly was amazing. Lowering her voice, she began to stroke my back in rythm with the hand in my hair and asked me quietly. "What did he tell you?"

It was like she knew I was on the verge of an anxiety attack and she was doing everything she could to calm me down. I felt a small smile creep on my face at her efforts. I wasn't going to be unappreciative so I decided to just spit it out and she what she thought. "That he knows who my father is. Both of them."

"What? But how?" Her shocked voice was still in a whisper, but it didn't hide the startled and concerned look in her eyes. She looked genuinely worried and I realized it was completely for me. She was only focused on how I was feeling and it made me want to kiss her again. So I did.

I reached my hand and caressed her cheek before pulling her down so that I was nearly laying on top of her. Her soft lips tasted sweet just like I remembered and I felt myself groan in approval as she ran her tongue across my lip asking for entrance. Normally I would have taken control of this kind of situation, but Hikari deserved to be in control. I belonged to her now and I wanted her to know she could do whatever she wanted to me.

Pushing her softly until she was laying on the bed, I crawled on top of her and deepened the kiss. Slowly I pulled away, and looked into her deep blue eyes. Looking to the deep pools of sapphire made me feel at home, like I had filled some void deep inside myself that I didn't even know I had. She tilted her head upwards and crashed her lips into mine again showing me her feelings in a physical way.

I felt another groan escaped me as she broke away and began to trail kisses along my neck. She bit my skin lightly sending a shock through my body down to my core. Her hands moved from my hair to roam my body and I shivered under her touch. She reached the bottom of my shirt and i felt her cool hands reach inside and rub against my hard stomach.

She let her hands wander and pulled away from me. Looking into her eyes, I saw confusion and desire. The look she was giving me woke up something in me and I found myself flip her over so I was straddling her. "You're driving me crazy onna."

"Shinji…" Leaning forward I placed a kiss on her neck like she had done to me. I felt her quiver and i grew bolder. I let my hands wander her body and felt a thrill of pride flow through me as a moan escaped her lips.

I wanted her. Needed her. She was the only one to understand me and accept me even though I don't deserve it. I wanted to show her how I felt. I wanted to touch every surface of her body and draw out sounds she's never made before. I want to make her feel the way I feel every time she touches me.

"Sh~inji…" picking my head up from her neck to look into her eyes, I saw a burning passion that set my heart on fire. She wanted me too. Lifting my hand to trace circles on her jaw, I growled in approval as she closed her eyes and leaned into my touch.

Slowly, I leaned forward and kissed her again. Softly and slowly I began to move my hand from her face and down the length of her side. Reaching her thigh, I grabbed her leg and wrapped it around my waist causing our cores to rub against each other, eliciting an excited mewl from the blue bombshell underneath me.

"Shinji…" she said breathlessly, "I want you." That was all I needed to hear for all rational thought to fly out the window. She had given me permission and I grew excited at the prospect of ravishing her right there.

"Then you'll have me."

* * *

**XxX**

* * *

An hour and a long hot shower later, Shinji and I were sitting down on the bed of our temporary room in professor Marulas Lab. I couldn't believe it. _Shinji and I just…_

My face grew a furious red as I thought about the events that had just taken place. One minute Shinji was telling me about something that was obviously traumatic and the next we…

_Arceus what is going on?!_

Watching Shinji eating out of his microwave ramen cup, I smiled and allowed my mind to wander. He had been so gentle yet so deviously rough. If never admit it out loud, but I think I preferred the rough parts better.

If I had to describe the event I would say it started out a bit awkward. It was a little painful but the pleasure I felt overridden any pain. He touched every part of me, made me feel things I didn't know I was capable of.

This guy, the heartless misunderstood little jerk of a boy that I had once despised, made me feel something I hadn't felt before. He made me feel safe. I knew right then and there that it was over for me. I had fallen for the grumpy violet haired jerk and I couldn't think of anyone else I would rather be with. "Arceus, I think I love you."

He choked on his noodles and my face again grew red as I realized I had spoken my thoughts aloud. _ Shit! _"I, uh.. I mean…"

I tried to think of a way to counter my own words but nothing came to me. Instead I watched in fear as Shinji calmly set his food down and looked at me. I was scared I just messed everything up. He didn't have feelings for me, he was just using me as a distraction. And I was okay with that, _why did I have to open my big mouth?! What if he leaves me?_

Panic began to grip me and I felt myself breathing hard and blinking back tears of embarrassment. To my shock I felt two warm arms wrap around my shaking body. Shinji pulled me across the bed and into his lap. Lowering his head into my neck I could feel his hot breath against my skin.

I wondered what he was thinking but before I could ask he raised his lips to my ears and whispered "I think I love you too."

Against my wishes, a sob escaped my lips and I felt him smirk against my skin. Lifting his head to look at me I swooned at the adoration I could see in his gaze. "That's why I came to you. I don't trust anyone else."

Honestly, I felt honoured that Shinji declared his trust for me. I knew that this wasn't something he took lightly so nodding I say up straight while staying in his lap. "You can tell me anything Shinji. I'll help you in any way I can."

I watched patiently as Shinji fought with himself over what to say. When he finally came to a conclusion he lowered his head and began talking. "Renji told Satoshi about his father, about my step father, my past. Apparently Renji knew more than he ever told me. I should've known he had an ulterior motive for getting close to that pathetic little-"

"Shinji!" I cut him off before he went off topic with a rant. I knew he wasn't really angry with Satoshi, rather, he was trying to avoid talking about this new information.

"Sorry." He mumbled. I decided I didn't like this depressed shinji so I lifted his face until he was looking me in the eyes. "Shinji-koi, you can tell me." Trying out the pet name, i decided although it was cute, I would only use it in extreme situations like this.

It seemed to work because he tightened his grip around my waist and laid his head on my shoulder. Feeling him relax was great but when he finally blurted it out, I was… surprised. "Satoshi is my brother."

"W-what?" How? When? What the hell?! My mind was going crazy and I understood why he was so upset.

"Satoshi's mom was never married to his dad. They met when she was an intern. Before that, he had been in love with a married woman and carrying on an affair for years with her. That woman was my mother."

"Oh Shinji…" he looked at me with pleading eyes and I knew he was trying his hardest to get through this. I closed my mouth and began running my hand through his hair as he continued.

"At some point they stopped talking, that's when he met Satoshi's mother and he was born. After that, he learned of my mothers murder and apparently tried to find me but no one knew what happened to us since we were in another region."

After a long pause, I decided to ask the obvious question. "So, who is he?"

"His name is Giovanni Zukio. He's a gym leader in Kanto and apparently the head of team rocket." I knew who Giovanni was. Everyone did. You either loved him or hated him and i knew the situation had just gotten a thousand times more complicated.

"Oh my …."

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do Hikari. Satoshi says that our father is evil but that means I have no one but you to fall back on. I thought maybe when i found out who he was i could turn to him for help but now i don't know… what do I do troublesome? I'm so confused."

Seeing him like this broke my heart. I wanted to help him overcome this but I needed to be careful or things would just wind up worse. I took a moment to think about what I would do in this situation before I decided to give my advice.

"Aisareru," I tried out another nickname, I liked this one better and it seemed Shinji did too based on how he pulled me closer to him, "I think you should take what Satoshi has to say into account. But at the same time, Giovanni may be able to help. I think you should try to contact him. Ask for his help but stay out of anything that has to do with his organization."

"How can I do that?" I knew Satoshi wouldn't like this but he was going to have to get over it.

"I know someone who can get in contact with him. She actually works for team rocket. The organization isn't as bad as satoshi thinks."

"Are you serious?!"

"I am. True in the past they were misguided, but their goal has always been to protect kanto from evil teams from other regions. They never wanted world domination, but to be considered the countries military of sorts."

After a moment of consideration he gave me a stern nod. "Make the call.I trust you. If you say I should try and reach out then that's what I'll do."

"Ok." I pulled out my pokétech and scrolled through my contacts until I found the number I was looking for. If anyone could help me get in touch with the Team Rocket boss, it would be his employees. A clicking signaling a connected call broke my thoughts and I decided to skip the pleasantries and get right down to business.

"Musashi? Hey, I need to call in that favor you owe me."


	31. Chapter 31

**Hey monsters! Oneesama back with a short update. This chapter only serves to introduce our newest protagonists.**

**Before anyone gets confused, I guess you can call my story an AU. There are references to characters, places, and events that ARE canon but, in this story the relationships, backstories, and timeline are all mine.**

**If it seems like it isnt something you saw in the anime, that's because it's not. Like my new pokemon, this stuff was created in my warped mind for your entertainment.**

**Anyway, enough from me. Refer to the glossary for name translations.**

**Onto the story!!!**

**XxX**

* * *

Kijiro, the boss has given us three months vacation as a reward for the success of our recent mission!" I squealed in delight.

Having just received the email, I was ecstatic to learn we were finally getting somewhere with the boss. It had been nearly fifteen years since we had registered in PIKA university and began our journey as Team Rocket agents.

Our first major assignment took us nearly eight years to complete and it was conducted with the utmost secrecy. Not many people knew that the boss had kids. Two sons and a daughter. Even fewer knew that I was in fact his eldest child and his only daughter.

Under the reign of his mother the former boss, my mother had been sent on a suicide mission and I sent away. It was his punishment for having a child at fifteen. When he finally took over I had already found my way to PIKA.

It was upon graduation that I met the boss and learned of our true relationship. That was when I was assigned the task of shadowing my brother. His youngest son Satoshi was barely ten and just starting out on his journey.

After having explained the loss of his eldest son, I was determined to do whatever it took to make him the best trainer ever. It was hard, pretending to be both an asshole and an idiot. But it was to keep my brother safe, so I always had reason to swallow my pride when our cover became so good our fellow agents thought we were imbeciles.

But Kijiro and Meowth had no reason to do the same. They only did it out of loyalty to me. Now that Satoshi was eighteen, we didn't need to follow him anymore because he was more than capable of taking care of himself.

And since our mission was now officially a success, the boss had decided to give us some time to ourselves. All expenses paid! Kijiro seemed to share in my enthusiasm because his head jerked up from his puzzle and he smiled brightly. "That's great! What should we do?"

I took a moment to think about it. "I say we hit the beach!" The thought of me laying in a burgundy bikini with Kijiro rubbing suntan lotion on my back nearly made me drool. He had shown obvious interest in me in the past but I never thought to give him a chance, but I couldn't figure out why.

"A trip to an island region would be nice." His agreement broke me from my thoughts. I was going to tell him that a long cruise first would be fun but my pokétech started ringing obnoxiously loud. "We could-"

_Ring ring ring…_

Groaning in irritation at being interrupted I glared at the Red device before pushing the green call button and answering. "Hello?"

I was surprised to find the voice on the other end of the line was one I hadn't heard in about a year. "Musashi? Hey I need to call in that favor you owe me."

Ah my old contest rival. Although it was nice to hear from her, I was a bit concerned at the urgency in her voice. "Nice to hear from you too Hikari. What's wrong? You're not usually one for dramatics."

A slight pause was heard before she breathed in loudly and said something i was not expecting. "I've come into some recent classified information that directly affects your boss."

Hikari was one of those extremely few people who knew about my father and my connection to Satoshi. He himself didn't know because, although he was physically and mentally strong… He was still very much in dental about his father and harbored too much anger to make any kind of positive relationship. The fact that Hikari was calling me about my father meant it had something to do with my family. And that terrified me. "I'm all ears. How can I help."

"I need to speak with him." It wasn't a request or a suggestion. It was a demand. Normally I would've scoffed at the idea but I could tell with how panicked she sounded that it could be a matter of life and death.

"I don't think-"

"Trust me, he'll want to hear what I have to say." The conviction in her voice got to me and I sighed in defeat. Maybe Satoshi was trying to save the world again. I wouldnt put it past the little twerp.

"Okay. I'll set up a video conference."

"Okay. Thanks Musashi." Before she could hang uo i added...

"Consider this one on the house. I still owe you." When it came to my family I would do anything to help and protect them. If Hikari needed help then so did Satoshi. Hanging up the call, I immediately began to fial the private line of my father's office.

* * *

**XxX**


End file.
